


Scars of War

by AKATheCupcakes



Series: Aria of Soul [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Non-Consensual Kissing, Other, PTSD, Sonic & Avatar friendship, Sonic Forces, Suicidal Thoughts, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 39,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24734665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKATheCupcakes/pseuds/AKATheCupcakes
Summary: Myla the Hedgehog fought a war alongside the best of the best and won. Now, on her own in a world trying to heal, her own scars start to surface and she starts wishing she hadn’t survived. Further complicating things, Doctor Eggman somehow survived their last encounter and is trying to find her... and part of her hopes he does.
Relationships: Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog, Avatar | Custom Hero (Sonic Forces) & Sonic the Hedgehog, Avatar | Custom Hero (Sonic Forces)/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Aria of Soul [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188782
Comments: 15
Kudos: 30





	1. Run, Runaway

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first Sonic fic I’ve written on about 15ish years? Yeah, I’m that old. Anyway, this is an idea that’s been nagging at me since I first played Forces and I finally took the time to start working on it. Let’s see how it goes.
> 
> Full Scars of War Set List (May Contain Spoilers):
> 
> https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOmKNtvNLzx_hsM84pKjPtq7JSKDBhMWZ

Being alone was the worst part.

For six months, Myla had been part of a team. The pale yellow hedgehog had worked alongside the rest of the Resistance to stop Eggman, and the camaraderie was great… but she never truly felt like she belonged with them… that was before she left their bodies behind as she fled from Infinite in absolute terror. But no one else knew that, and she was welcomed as a survivor and hailed as a hero. She didn’t deserve any of that… but it was good for morale, wasn’t it? If she survived that attack, then maybe Sonic could still be alive too.

Sonic the Hedgehog; the name alone was enough to bring a smile to her face and a dull ache to her heart. He had still been alive, being held captive and tortured… and she had been sent in to rescue him. Perhaps it was her guilt, but part of her hoped she wouldn’t survive the mission. When she ended up surrounded by badniks on the Death Egg, she thought she was going to get what she hoped for… what she thought she deserved.. but then Sonic appeared out of nowhere, destroying her captors and offering his hand to help her up. After being held captive for months, tortured… he ended up rescuing her. 

From then until the end of the war, they had been a team. They broke out of the Death Egg together, battled side by side right up until the end. His unwavering faith in her was baffling, Myla never understood how, or why, he did it. She worked up the courage to ask him about it, right before they took on Infinite’s projection of Metal Sonic. He looked at her, his eyebrow quirked slightly, like he couldn’t believe she was asking.

“We’re a team, Buddy,” was the only answer he gave.

Sonic was… had been her best friend. Her only friend. The rest of the Resistance was nice, she knew they had her back, but it wasn’t the same. She bonded with Sonic somehow But even after all of the time they’d spent together, fighting side by side, making up increasingly insulting names for Eggman, camping out between missions, finding chili dogs… even he didn’t know of her shame.

When Myla decided to leave, Sonic had met her outside the Resistance HQ, wishing her well. His words led her to believe that he’d be on his way as well, and for a moment considered asking if she could join him. She didn’t. She gave him a fist bump and watched him leave. She soon followed suit, taking off in a different direction, planning on starting a new life somewhere, when she found a place she felt she belonged.

That was weeks ago; she’d left Sunset Heights behind her, walked over Green Hills, past the Luminous Forest… and was now surrounded by mushrooms. Mushrooms as far as the eye could see. Myla hated everything about it, and yet… she stayed. She deserved this, didn’t she? She’d lied to everyone, let them believe that she was a hero. She wasn’t a hero. Sonic was.

She missed him so, so much.

Myla had made her home in a dense grove of mushrooms; not having much to build with, it was just easier to find a natural shelter than attempt to make something of her own. The larger mushrooms made a decent roof, despite the gaps between them. Even when it did rain, she was able to keep dry. Was it comfortable? No. But it was a place to stay until she moved on again. If she moved on again.

The nice thing about being in a land of mushrooms was that there was food everywhere. It was all mushrooms, but Myla knew which were safe and which were poisonous, and that was better than starving. She would go foraging every morning, getting what she needed for the day and nothing more. It wasn’t horrible, and it was definitely better than nothing.

“You could always go home,” a voice in her head reminded her, a voice that sounded like Sonic. “No one cares about what happened, you helped save the world. I don’t care what happened… come home.” She wished she could believe that… but there was another voice, a louder voice that told her that she should never go back, she could never go back. The moment they found out what she did, they would banish her anyway. That voice was easier to listen to… no. It was harder to ignore. Infinite’s words always spoke louder to her than anyone else’s.

"I can taste your terror, child. All that anxiety and doubt... it's delicious. Give in to your fear. Flee screaming and I'll let you live.”

Myla had fled from him; she wasn’t screaming like he’d wanted, but she still fled, leaving the bodies of her friends behind. She stood up to him later, even bested him in battle… but he still terrified her. The sound of his voice sent chills through her body. The thought of him coming for her was admittedly ridiculous, but at the same time? If he found her and took his revenge, it would be what she deserved.

Sometime after she’d settled in this place – a few days, weeks... maybe longer – she woke up in the night to a hand clapped over her nose and mouth, applying just enough pressure to hinder her breathing but not stopping it completely. Her eyes shot open, a scream forming deep in her throat as she stared up at her attacker, wondering how this will end…  
She never expected to be looking up into the crimson eyes of Shadow the Hedgehog.

“Keep quiet,” he hissed. “They’re here.” Myla didn’t ask who he was talking about, just nodded her head once. She inhaled deeply when he removed his hand, but she did so as quietly as possible. He laid down next to her, making himself as flat against the ground as possible, staring up at the sky between gaps in the mushroom canopy. She wanted to ask what was happening, why he was there… how he had found her…

That’s when they appeared; flying overheard slowly, in formation, searching… Badniks. Eggman’s badniks… 

“How…” she whispered as the last of them flew over, aware of the fear rising in her voice. “Sonic stopped him… they both did…”

“We don’t know,” Shadow replied. “But he’s alive…” He turned to face her, his face stern and serious. “And he’s looking for you.”

***

Myla didn’t remember falling back to sleep that night; she remembered Shadow telling her to rest, that he would keep watch, but not actually closing her eyes and going back to sleep. She didn’t realize she’d slept until she woke to the smell of something cooking. She sat up quickly, looking around, nervous and on edge.

“Calm down.” Her gaze landed on Shadow, seated by a small fire with his back her. “Come, eat. You look like you haven’t eaten since you left.”

“I’ve eaten,” she mumbled, sitting down across from him. He raised an eyebrow before handing her a stick with what looked like a cooked hotdog skewered on it. She took it gingerly, looking at it for a long time before finally taking a bite, savoring it. She’d never been good at making a fire without matches or a lighter, so all the mushrooms she’d been eating were eaten raw. This hotdog was burnt slightly, it might have been dropped on the ground for all she knew, and it was still the best thing she’d eaten in a long time.

Sonic had taught her how to cook a hot dog over the fire, back during the war; they had been camping out in the Mystic Jungle, on their way to Metropolis. The first hotdog she’d tried to make was burnt on the outside and cold on the inside, and Sonic teased her a little about it.

“I’m a city girl!” She proclaimed. “This is the farthest I’ve ever been out of Sunset Heights in my whole life!”

“You never went camping with your family?” She felt her smile fade, watching his face fall as well. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…”

“I never had a family,” she said, bluntly but not cruel or angry, looking down at the ground in front of her. “I grew up in an orphanage, my parents died when I was little… I don’t know what happened to them.” She felt his hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“I’m sorry, Buddy…” he replied, kindly. He didn’t say anything more. She put her hand on top of his.

“Thanks.”

In the present, she blinked away the tears she felt forming in her eyes. What she wouldn’t give to be camping out with Sonic again.

“Still with me, Rookie?” Shadow asked. She resisted wiping her eyes and just stared at the fire, thinking this would somehow hide the fact she was about to cry.

“Not really,” she admitted. “Sorry, I was just… remembering. Things.” She looked up at him, noticing there was a sympathetic expression on his normally expressionless face. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“You’ve been eating nothing but these mushrooms,” he said flatly. “It’s a wonder you’re as healthy as you are.”

“I’ve been fine,” she muttered, taking another bite of her hot dog. “How did you find me?”

“It wasn’t easy; I didn’t think you would have gotten as far away from the City as you did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know where you are right now?”

“Somewhere with a lot of mushrooms?”

“Besides that.”

“Nope.”

“This place is literally called Mushroom Hills; it’s about half the planet away from the City.” He handed her another hotdog, which she skewered on her stick and started to cook. “You ran pretty far away… almost like you were trying to escape something.”

“Just… needed to move on,” she replied with a shrug. “They didn’t need me there, I didn’t have a reason to stay.”

“What about your friends?” Myla took a note of how he phrased that, ‘your friends’ rather than ‘our friends’. She wondered it if was as telling as it seemed. She slowly spun the hotdog over the flames to cook it evenly.

“You said Eggman was after me… why?” The segue wasn’t the greatest, but Shadow seemed okay with letting it slide.

“Because of your contact with his Phantom Ruby prototype.” She blinked. Repeatedly.

“What? Why? I don’t have it anymore, it shattered after I pushed back his sun...”

“Tails thinks that’s exactly why he wants you…” He took a bite of his own hotdog. “He’ll be better at explaining it, he can tell you more when we get back.”

“What makes you think I’m going back?” Shadow looked at her, his eyes narrowed slightly. “Going back will just bring trouble, which is the last thing anyone needs.”

“So what,” he said, “you’re just going to run for the rest of your life? Seems like a pretty sad existence.”

“Maybe that’s what I deserve.” She bit into her hotdog; she was no better at cooking them now than she was back when she was camping with Sonic, which wasn’t all that surprising to her. “Everyone will be better off if I stay on my own.” Things were mostly silent for a moment; Myla could only hear the crackling of the fire in front of her, the whistle of a gentle breeze…

“Why would you deserve to be alone?”

“Tell everyone I said hi when you get back,” she replied. “Let them know I’m okay, that I’ll be okay…”

“Myla...”

“And Eggman won’t win. They beat him once, they’ll beat him again.”

“I’m not going back without you…”

“And I’m not going back at all!” She got to her feet and started to pack up what little things she had; a tattered blanket, a sharp stone she’d been using as a knife, some random mushrooms that were nearby… “I don’t belong there anymore… I never did…”

“You’re a hero.”

“No I’m not!” She turned to face him, knowing that her eyes were were red with tears. “I never was… never… just leave me alone…” She slung her bag over her shoulder and started to run. She didn’t know why she was bothering; she could barely keep up with Sonic at times, and she was sure he slowed down for her sake… Shadow was just as fast as Sonic, and would be on top of her in seconds if he wanted. 

Maybe if she ran fast enough, he’d lose interest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Run Runaway” - Great Big Sea (cover)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UMV36zYs58


	2. Save Me, Save Me

Sonic the Hedgehog sped through Emerald Hills like he was running for his life; the irony, of course, was that for the first time in years, he wasn’t. There was no Eggman out to get him or his friends, no alien invaders, no him from another dimension… just him, running for the sake of running.

Now that he thought about it, the last time here was here was for the same reason; trying to wind down after saving the world from Eggman. He ended up here, hanging out on the beach when he wasn’t running around and exploring the place. That’s how he met Tails, he thought fondly. He never expected the little guy to be able to keep up with him like he did and even if Sonic lost him, Tails would fly in moments later.

It was strange at first, having someone that could keep up with him. Sonic had run alone for so long, not out of preference but because he didn’t have much of a choice. He had tried slowing down but it never lasted; soon enough, he’d be running at full speed without even realizing it… and he’d be alone again.

Maybe that’s why he took a shine to Tails and Myla, and if he was being honest, to Knuckles as well; they knew what it was like to be alone because they had no other choice.

Myla. She had been on his mind a lot ever since he left the City, and thinking of her never failed to bring a smile to his face. He’d only known her for a few weeks before the end of the war, but at the same time he felt like he’d known her forever. Sonic slowed to a stop, taking a seat on one of the many hills around him and looked up at the sky, remembering the day they met. Myla had remarked that though she’d been sent to rescue him, it was he who saved her.

Sonic smiled a little as he thought about their first meeting. He’d just defeated Zavok and was making his way through the halls of the prison. He discovered that he was off planet, spent a few minutes wondering how he was breathing outside in space — he wondered if the Death Egg was able to create its own atmosphere somehow, whether via its size or some sort of artificial means, and made a mental note to ask Tails about it later—and went to find some sort of transport back home.

Having learned early on in his life that badniks don’t tend to look up, Sonic stayed up near the ceiling as much as he could. He had just about made it to the docking bay when he heard it: a soft, frightened whimper that stopped him in his tracks. He didn’t know how he’d managed to catch the sound; maybe because it wasn’t something he’d expect to hear in a place like this. It didn’t sound like a robot, it sounded real… not that robots weren’t real, they were just as real as anything, but they weren’t… there was no way around this thought process that didn’t make him feel like a jerk, so he abandoned it quickly. It didn’t sound like a robot.

He looked around, wondering if maybe he’d imagined the sound. Sonic had been alone for so long, it wouldn’t be the first time he imagined someone coming to find him. It was usually Tails though, or Knuckles… but this didn’t sound like them. If the sound was real, it was someone else. Someone new…

“Target located.” Sonic looked towards the robotic voice and found what he’d been looking for: another hedgehog, one he’d never seen before. Whoever they were, they were pale yellow, wearing a purple and yellow tie dyed shirt, black sneakers with purple laces, and carrying a wispon. Well, the wispon was several feet away from them; between it and them was a trio of badniks, which explained the whimper he heard. The poor kid was surrounded, unarmed and scared. If he was in their shoes, he would have been scared too.

Sonic wasted no more time, leaping down from the rafters and spin dashing the badniks into oblivion. When he was done, he turned to the hedgehog, who was shielding themselves with their hand.

“Easy there!” He said cheerfully, getting them to look at him. It was a girl, judging by her long eyelashes… Sonic hadn’t noticed before, but she had the prettiest violet eyes he’d ever seen. “Everything’s cool,” he continued, offering a hand to her. “Are you here to rescue me?”

“Yeah,” she replied, taking his hand. Her voice was soft, shaken but determined. Something about the sound of it made Sonic feel relaxed. “Though it looks like you’re the one doing the rescuing. Thanks…” She ran a hand through their yellow bangs before smiling a little. “I’m Myla. The Resistance sent me.”

“Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a friendly face.” Myla’s smile brightened and… was it cliché to say she shined like a star? Sonic was pretty sure it was, but that’s what he felt. He also felt for the first time in months that everything was going to be okay.

“Hey rookie,” Knuckles voice chimed in from Myla’s communicator. “You still in one piece?”

“Oh sure,” Sonic said with a grin and an eye roll. “Don’t even bother to ask how I am!” Myla covered her mouth to hide a giggle, but her eyes danced with amusement, even more so when Amy jumped in to tell Sonic she was so glad to hear his voice. Sonic grinned back at her. “Is there an exit around here?”

“Yeah,” Myla replied with a nod, pointing to a waiting shuttle. Sonic grabbed her hand and ran with her to the ship. He remembered now, after so many months had passed, how surprised she had looked when he did that. He’d always meant to ask her why, but there was never the right moment. They were always fighting Eggman’s robots, and when they weren’t… he just wanted to see her smile.

“Sonic!” He blinked a few times before looking into the sky above him.

“Tails?” Sure enough, his friend was flying towards him, with Knuckles gliding close behind. Both of them looked… he couldn’t say they looked happy to see him. It seemed like they were more relieved than happy.

“Good to see you, Sonic,” Knuckles said as they landed.

“Same to you,” he replied, aware of how suspicious his voice sounded. “What’s going on?”

“Is Myla with you?” Tails asked hopefully.

“Myla? No… I haven’t seen her since we both left.” Knuckles and Tails looked at each other, worriedly.

“Maybe Shadow’s found her?” Tails suggested.

“We can check in when we get back…” Sonic raised an eyebrow.

“Why’s Shadow looking for Myla?”

“Eggman survived the last battle…”

“I wish I could be surprised by that,” Sonic replied flatly.

“And he’s after Myla.”

For all of his life, Sonic the Hedgehog had done everything fast. That was just his nature; if something wasn’t done fast before, it would be by the time he was done with it. But now… time was standing still, and it was almost painful. Images flashed before his eyes, visions of himself and Myla fighting together, laughing together, that last fist bump before they said goodbye… followed by visions of her alone. Trapped on the Death Egg like he had been, tortured as he was…

“Sonic?” Tails said, his voice sounding as thought it was miles away. “Sonic, did you hear me?”

“He’s after Myla,” he managed to reply.

“Yes,” Knuckles agreed. “Tails thinks it… where are you going?!”

“To find Myla!” Sonic shouted back as he ran. He didn’t remember starting to run, he just suddenly was. His buddy was in danger; specifics could be explained later, right now he needed to find Myla before Eggman did.

He needed to find his friend.

***

Shadow stared off in the direction Myla had run off in, watching her figure slowly get smaller. He raised his wrist towards his mouth and pressed a button on his communicator.

“Shadow to Rouge.”

“Rouge here, Shadow; how’s the search coming?” Shadow sighed, still watching Myla run away. She’d be out of sight soon; he knew he should go after her, but as much as he hated to admit it, he needed advice first.

“We’ve got a problem.”

“Problem? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. It’s Myla.”

“You found her? Is she hurt?”

“She doesn’t want to come back.”

“What?” Rouge asked. “What do you mean she doesn’t want to come back?” Shadow quickly recounted his conversation with Myla as he started going after her. She had a head start, he’d be able to get the advice he needed while he tracked her. “That doesn’t make any sense,” Rouge continued. “Myla was a hero, she and the Sonics stopped Infinite and Eggman…”

“There’s something wrong with her,” Shadow said. “I barely know her and still felt it…” He took a deep breath. “She ran away from me… I can find her again, but… I don’t know what to do.” There was silence for a moment, long enough for Shadow to wonder if they’d been disconnected somehow. “Rouge?”

“I’m here, Shadow… I’m sorry, I’m not sure what to tell you, other than not to leave her alone for long. If Tails is right about Eggman’s plans, he’ll end up killing her…”

“I’ll look after her,” Shadow promised. “Any word from Sonic?”

“No, not yet. Knuckles and Tails are still out looking for him… you know he doesn’t like to stay in one place for long.”

“Yeah… I better catch up with Myla. I’ll check in later…”

“Of course. I’ll let everyone know you’ve found her, maybe someone can come help.”

“Good idea…” He hesitated a moment. “Is… how is…”

“Amy’s fine,” Rouge said softly. “She’s out helping with the reconstruction. I’ll tell her you called and asked about her.” Shadow smiled a little.

“Thank you, Rouge. Shadow out.” He turned off his communicator and sighed, relaxing a little, happy to know his Amy was okay.

His Amy; this concept surprised no one more than him. He hadn’t meant to start to care for her beyond friendship, it just sort of happened; after the war ended, and Sonic left, they somehow ended up spending a lot of time together. It was mostly work related, rebuilding the world that Eggman had destroyed. Soon, they were having lunch together, taking walks… there wasn’t a day that went by when he didn’t see her.

Then came the night of the outdoor movie; Tails had found an old projector in the City and was able to get it working again. Some citizens were able to find film reels, others were able to get them into a watchable state, and a crafting group got together to sew together a bunch of sheets to make a screen. They hung it up on the side of a building, tying it down where they could. When night fell, there were people everywhere; parents settling down with their children and small bags of popcorn —to this day, Shadow still didn’t know where the popcorn machine came from, or the popcorn itself for that matter, only that Charmy knew how to work it and kept it going all night long— young couples snuggling up on blankets they’d brought with them, older couples sitting in chairs.

Shadow ended up settling down near the projector; movies weren’t a big of a part of his life like they were for others, so he was content with one of the less desired seats. He never expected Amy to appear out of nowhere, hand him a bag of popcorn and settle down at his side.

“Have you ever seen this movie?” She asked quietly as the movie started. He shook his head. “It’s a good one, I think you’ll like it.”

He never expected to put his arm around her during a tense scene, when the it looked like the hero had fallen to their death.

He never expected her to snuggle close to him, resting her head against his shoulder.

Neither of them expected to turn to face each other at the same time, their noses almost touching… Shadow doesn’t know which one of them leaned in first, but the kiss that followed was… perfect. When they finally broke away from each other, Amy looked at him with the most adoring smile, a soft giggle slipping out as she cuddled him again. He kept his arm around her the rest of the night, unable to wipe the small smile off his face.

They didn’t hide their relationship, but they didn’t go out of their way to tell people either. Rouge somehow figured it out the next day, everyone else took longer. He was pretty sure Knuckles didn’t know until he watched Shadow kiss Amy goodbye before heading out to search for Myla. The sputtering confusion from the echidna would amuse him for a long, long time.

He would call Amy later, not only to check in, see how she was doing, but to also see if she had any ideas on how to bring Myla home.

“Rouge to Shadow.” Shadow skid to a stop, surprised to hear from Rouge again so soon.

“Shadow here, go ahead Rouge. Is something wrong?”

“You said you found Myla in Mushroom Hills?”

“Yes.”

“Mushroom Hills is on Angel Island…”

“Yes…” The realization hit him moments before Rouge’s reply.

“How did she get _up_ there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Save Me” - Queen
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3izcZd9zU


	3. The Secrets That You Keep

“Rouge to Knuckles, come in Knuckles.” Knuckles motioned to Tails that he was going to glide to a stop before landing and answering his com.

“Knuckles here, Rouge,” he replied, as he watched Tails and Sonic land. “What’s going on?”

“Have you and Tails found Sonic?”

“Yeah, we got him.” Tails shot him a look and started to chuckle. Knuckles waved him off.

“Why is Tails laughing?” Rouge asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, Sonic’s just… sleeping right now.”

“Sleeping?”

“Sleeping… knocked unconscious… not much of a difference…”

“Why did you knock him unconscious?!”

“First of all, you have no proof it was me…”

“I don’t need proof; my options are you or Tails and Tails wouldn’t do that.”

“Second of all, we needed to stop him from running from us somehow and there just happened to be a rock in my hand…”

“You threw a rock at him?!”

“He’s fine!” Knuckles held back a laugh as he heard Rouge sigh in defeat. He could run logic circles around her all day if needed, but they were kind of on a time crunch right now; Sonic wouldn’t stay unconscious for long.

“Why was he running from you?”

“We made the mistake of leading with “Eggman is after Myla”, and he didn’t want to sit still after that.”

“So now you have to carry him back?”

“I don’t have to do anything, Tails is carrying him.”

“You’re making Tails carry him?!”

“I’m not making Tails do anything, he offered!”

“I did offer,” Tails agreed, nodding to Knuckles, who nodded back, understanding. No one needed to know that Tails had been the one that picked up the rock in the first place, knowing full well that it’d be the only way to stop Sonic. Knuckles took the rock because he had a better aim, and Tails agreed to carry Sonic home. It’s not like he hadn’t done it a million times before.

Carried Sonic, of course, not hit him with a rock.

“Anyway,” Rogue continued. “Shadow found Myla; she was in Mushroom Hills.” Knuckles blinked.

“Mushroom Hills,” he replied, dumbfounded.

“Yes.”

“On Angel Island.”

“Again, yes.”

“How did she get up there?!”

“She didn’t… it appears the island came down…” Knuckles just stared at his communicator in complete disbelief. 

“I would have felt it if the Master Emerald had been taken or destroyed,” he said finally. “Which means something else must have made the island descend.”

“Maybe it was Myla,” Tails said. “Inadvertently, of course, due to her contact with the Phantom Ruby…”

“Or perhaps the Emerald knows she needs help,” Rouge suggested. “In more ways than one…”

“What do you mean… is she hurt?” Knuckles looked over at the, apparently, now conscious Sonic.

“You gonna hold still long enough to listen to people,” he asked, “or do I need to find another rock?” Sonic glared at his friend before crossing his arms in front of his chest, waving his hand slightly, indicating that someone should start explaining things now, while he was holding still.

“Sonic, good to hear your voice,” Rouge cut in quickly. “Shadow caught up to Myla in Mushroom Hills, but she refused to come back with him. According to Shadow, she said it would be better for everyone if she just stayed on her own and that being alone was what she deserved. I did some research after Shadow called; I’m no expert, but it sounds like she has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

“Post what?” Knuckles asked, looking at Tails.

“Don’t look at me, I’m an engineer not a doctor.”

“Put simply,” Rouge continued, “she went through a lot of trauma and now that its over, the stress of it is catching up to her.” There was silence for a moment or two, no one knowing what to say about that. Knuckles cleared his throat.

“Rouge, we’re going to fill Sonic in, I’ll call you back.”

“Copy that; Rouge out.” Knuckles looked at Sonic, who still looked like he was processing what he just heard.

“Let’s sit down,” he said, settling down on the ground. “Tails, tell Sonic what all we know, and then we can get into what you learned right before we left.”.

“Eggman made multiple prototypes on the Phantom Ruby,” Tails began, taking a seat across from Knuckles, with Sonic sitting next to him. “Each one stronger than the last. Whenever a new prototype was made, the previous one was destroyed. The only deviation was with the prototype Myla found, which I can only assume was lost by Infinite and he somehow didn’t notice.”

“Not too bright for someone alleging to be the most powerful being in the world,” Knuckles remarked.

“He claimed most powerful, not smartest,” Sonic replied, drawing a laugh from his friends.

“Here’s where things really get interesting,” continued Tails. “I found out about this right before we left to find you, so Knuckles hasn’t heard this yet: I don’t know whether or not Eggman was aware of this, but the elements he used to create the ruby prototypes were drawn to each other; basically, when one was broken, the power it had held would be absorbed by the new prototype. This happened every time a new prototype was created, which is part of how Infinite became stronger.”

“So when Myla’s ruby broke after she used it to stop Eggman’s sun, the power went to Infinite?”

“Exactly.”

“Whoa… so what happened to all that power when Infinite vanished? It all went to Eggman?”

“No, Eggman’s ruby was the genuine article and didn’t have the exact same properties; Infinite’s power could only be drawn towards a similar source, even if there was only residual amounts left… such as what might have clung to another prototype user…” Tails watched with hidden amusement as Knuckles and Sonic, both of them intelligent people, mentally pieced together what he was saying.

“All that power,” Knuckles began.

“Went to Myla,” finished Sonic.

“But she doesn’t know she has it,” Tails continued. “According to my research, Myla never wanted power…”

“Research?” Sonic asked, confused. “What research?”

“Background check, mostly. She grew up in an orphanage in Sunset Heights, records say she was abandoned.

“Abandoned… her parents just left her there?”

“Someone did, anyway… regardless, she joined the resistance when the orphanage was destroyed. She mostly stayed out of combat, did a lot of delivery work, secretarial tasks… no one knows how she ended up at that last battle in the city, but security footage we managed to find shows how she escaped.”

“Infinite, right?” Sonic asked. “Told her to run away?” Tails jaw dropped; Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah… literally said “Flee, screaming, and I’ll let you live”… but how’d you know that?” Sonic sighed, looking down at the ground.

“She talks in her sleep.”

***

Deep in the Mystic Jungle, Sonic sat by a small campfire, watching it slowly die down. Myla was a few feet from him, tucked into her sleeping bad, fast asleep. He should be sleeping too; big day tomorrow and all. Sonic got to his feet, stretching a little before grabbing one of their canteens, intending the put out the rest of the fire, only to be stopped by a sound. It wasn’t of the jungle, nor was it the sound of a badnik trying to sneak up on them… it was a sob, barely loud enough to be heard. He looked around, his eyes landing on Myla; she was tossing and turning in her sleeping bag.

“Myla?” He walked over to her, kneeling by her said. Her face twitched, her eyes wet with tears. He reached out to shake her awake, stopping when she started to speak.

“No… no…” she mumbled through tears. “I didn’t abandon them… I didn’t…”

“Myla,” he said softly. “Myla wake up…”

“I didn’t leave them to die… you killed them…” Sonic frowned; he knew of course that Myla had been the last survivor of an attack on the City by Infinite, but they made it seem like she had barely gotten out with her life. He realized now that “they” were Knuckles and Amy; Myla had never said a word as they were filling him in.

“What happened, Myla?” He knew a little about the science behind dreaming, Tails had done an in-depth experiment on it once; Myla was in a deep enough sleep that she would likely hear his question in Infinite’s voice, and hopefully answer.

“You killed them,” she sobbed. “You killed them and told me to run… I did what you told me to do… it’s not my fault… I did what you told me to do…”

“Shh, Myla,” he said, his voice calm and soft as he gently stroked her hair. “It’s okay…”

“He’ll hate me,” she whispered. “He’ll hate me when he finds out…” His hand stopped moving, resting gently on her head. Myla seemed to be relaxing now, escaping her nightmare… pushing her might send her back into it, but he needed to know.

“Who’ll hate you..?”

“Sonic…”

***

“She calmed down after that,” Sonic said, guiltily. “I watched for a bit, tried to make sure she didn’t have another nightmare… went to bed when I realized there wasn’t really a way for me to do that. In the morning, I asked her if she’d slept okay; she said she did, and I… didn’t say anything.”

“We made her out to be a hero,” Knuckles said. “She is, she did so much to help us win against Eggman…”

“And all that time, she was carrying this guilt,” Tails added. “But it wasn’t her fault!” Knuckles nodded.

“We’ve seen the footage, she was fighting alongside everyone there; she just happened to be the only survivor. She hid towards the end, before Infinite told her to run, but I can’t think of anyone I know who wouldn’t have.”

“Vector said he wouldn’t have,” Tails replied flatly.

“Vector is lucky Amy whacked him before I did,” Knuckles replied.

“So she’s on Angel Island now,” Sonic said. “And Shadow’s with her? How did they get to Angel Island?”

“No idea,” said Tails. “We just now learned about that, but Rouge said the island came down to her… and considering what we know about the Phantom Ruby, it’s not impossible to think that Myla might be unintentionally attracting the Master Emerald to her.”

“How does she have all this power and not be aware of it?”

“The Phantom Ruby gives the user what they want; Infinite wanted power, he wanted chaos and destruction. Myla doesn’t want any of that, so the power is just… sitting there.”

“So Eggman wants Myla because she has the ruby’s power,” Knuckes added. “Which from what we know about Myla, she’d never give it to him.”

“But he might take it from her,” Tails said carefully. “There’s… there’s really only one sure-fire way to do that…” Sonic nodded, not needing to ask what he meant by that. Eggman could find a way to control Myla, force her to do his bidding, but there would always be the chance that she could break free. As much as Sonic hated to admit it, Eggman was smart enough to have figured that out for himself. If Eggman got to Myla first, he would kill her for the ruby’s power.

Sonic was never going to let that happen.

“Let’s head to Angel Island, meet up with Shadow,” he said. “Hopefully he’s somehow talked Myla into staying with him.”

“Maybe he can sweet talk her like he did Amy,” Knuckles said, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from Tails.

“What about Amy?” Sonic asked.

“Shadow and Amy are… dating,” Tails said carefully. “Not sure how long now.” Sonic thought about this; he liked Amy, despite her… obsessive nature towards him. She was smart, strong, and an all around decent person. But he didn’t love her. He wasn’t sure he was able to love anyone, not with everything that seemed to happen around him. As much as it would have made her happy, it would have been cruel to indulge her interest in him. Now, she had someone else… he smiled.

“That’s great,” he said earnestly. “Good for them. Come on, let’s get going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Talking in Your Sleep” - The Romantics
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch/ggkEZHlQzho
> 
> Tails’ theory on how the Phantom Ruby prototypes work is completely made up by me, there’s no basis in canon for it whatsoever.


	4. Live Wire

It had been decided that the three of them would head straight to the Hidden Palace, where the Master Emerald was kept. If Tails was right, and the emerald was calling to Myla, their best chance of finding her was heading straight there. Sonic, unable to wait for too long, had declared he would meet them there. Tails, knowing better than to argue, handed Sonic his communicator and told him to call if he found Myla and Shadow.

That was yesterday; he ran straight through the night, stopping only to catch an hour or two of sleep. He had a feeling deep inside of him that if he didn’t hurry, if he didn’t find her soon, he was going to lose her forever. Why hadn’t he asked her to come with him? She would have, they could have been having adventures together, he could have helped her with her guilt… if he’d just asked her…

“Sonic!” He skid to a stop, looking around.

“Shadow?” The black hedgehog landed in front of him. “Is Myla with you?”

“No, but I know where she is; she went into the volcano less than than half an hour ago.”

“You didn’t follow her?”

“I’m trying to get her to stop running, not encourage her to keep going. She hasn’t slept since yesterday.” Sonic nodded, sighing. Shadow looked a little ragged himself; he probably hadn’t slept either.

“She really doesn’t want us to help her, does she?” He was painfully aware of how sad his own voice sounded.

“I think she’s under a lot of duress,” Shadow said in his normal monotone. “She went through a lot; we all did, but not everyone handles it the same way. She ran, thinking that’s what she needed, but things didn’t get better…” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I think what she needs is her friend that’s always been by her side.” Sonic smiled a little, nodding.

“Tails thinks her contact with the Phantom Ruby may be what brought Angel Island down,” he told Shadow. “If it’s attracting her to it, she’s probably heading towards it.”

“Let’s head in, see if we can find her. You can tell me everything else Tails thinks on the way.”

Sonic lead Shadow into the volcano; it had been a while since he’d visited Lava Reef, but he still had a general idea of how to find the Hidden Palace. Along the way, he told Shadow about Tails’ discovery regarding the Phantom Ruby prototypes, how all their power was now within Myla.

“All that power in someone that doesn’t want it,” Shadow mused. “Probably the safest place for it.”

“Yeah. I don’t know if she’ll see it the same way…” Sonic was trying to figure out how to breach the subject of Amy. “So you and Amy are an item now?” He’d never been good at subtlety.

“We are. That a problem?”

“Nope. Happy for both of you.”

“Thanks.” Shadow looked ready to say more when he stopped, glaring at something in front of them. Sonic looked where he was facing, his eyes widening.

“That’s Myla’s bag,” he said, running over to pick it up. “Looks like it got caught on something and ripped…” Shadow nodded.

“But why would she leave it here?” Before Sonic could answer, a scream echoed through the caves. It was full of pain, agony… and familiar.

“Myla.”

***

A day after running from Shadow, Myla found herself wandering through caves on rocks that had steam rising up from them. She wasn’t sure what made her come here; she was trying to lose Shadow, not knowing if he was even still behind her, when she saw an opening in the side of the large mountain that loomed over Mushroom Hills. Now that she was inside, it was clear that this was a volcano of some sort and… well, this wasn’t the first time she regretted her life choices, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

As she made her way through the tunnels, lit only by the molten lava she was praying she didn’t fall into, she saw remains of various badniks scattered around. They looked old, who knew how long they’d been here. Was this a testing ground of Eggman’s? Or was it a place that maybe Sonic had traveled through before, destroying the badniks as he went. She had no way of knowing; all she could do was keep moving forward.

She had no way of knowing how long she wandered those tunnels, unable to tell if she was walking in circles or actually making some sort of progress. At some point, she began to hear something calling to her. Maybe not to her specifically, but something was calling. A soft voice, saying something she couldn’t quite make out, echoing through the tunnels. She wasn’t sure how she’d ever find the source of the voice, but she also couldn’t make herself stop. It almost felt as though something was pulling her towards the voice, something warm, familiar. She felt her legs aching as she continued forward, but she couldn’t stop to rest. She could rest when she got there… wherever there was.

It got darker as Myla continued through the caves, the voice possibly getting louder? She was too tired to know, or care, at this point. She was vaguely reminded of the times she had run alongside Sonic, him holding her hand to help her keep up with him, an action that felt… right. She couldn’t describe it any other way. She felt like his hand just fit into hers in a way she’d never known was possible.

Myla wondered how long she’d been in love with Sonic.

It wasn’t a sudden thing; she didn’t feel any different seeing him for the first time aboard the Death Egg than she did when she met Knuckles or Tails or anyone else. They’d become friends, they fought together, they both faced Infinite alone, both had been defeated by him… no. She knew when it had happened. When they thought they had destroyed the Phantom Ruby’s main power source, only to have Eggman open some weird vortex to somewhere he called Null Space. Myla had been on top of another building when the vortex opened; it didn’t take much for her to put together what was about to happen and take action. She used the grappling hook on her wispon to swing down, grabbing Sonic’s hand before he could be sucked inside.

“Myla! Don’t!” Sonic looked at her; for the first time since she’d met him, she thought she saw actual fear in his eyes. “You’ll be sucked in too!”

It was then she realized that he genuinely cared for her, that he didn’t want her to get hurt. That was when she realized she cared for him too… that she always had.

“Then we go together,” she said confidently. “Right, partner?” She barely registered the grin start to appear on his face when the line on her wispon snapped and they were sucked into Null Space.

Myla didn’t say anything about her feelings for him after they’d broken out of Null Space. She’d never said anything after she and both Sonics fought together to destroy Eggman. She never said anything before he ran out of her life forever.

Would it have mattered if she had?

“Myla? Myla!” She stopped. That voice… no, it couldn’t be… “Myla, are you here?”

“Sonic..?” She started to run towards his voice, barely registering when her bag got snagged on a rock and was pulled off of her shoulder. She soon found herself inside a large room, containing the largest gems she’d ever seen. The chaos emeralds..? No, these were all bigger than those. She had no idea what they were, but standing in front of the largest one, arms open, a grin on his face… “Sonic!”

“Hey buddy, where have you been?” he asked as he started walking towards her. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

“You have? Really..?”

“Of course I have.” He wrapped his arms around her, much to her surprise. He’d never hugged her like this before, not that it was unpleasant… but something about it felt wrong. Something… uncanny… “Me…” Sonic continued, his embrace tightening. “…and Doctor Eggman.”

Myla’s entire body went stiff as she felt millions of tiny but powerful shocks course through her. She wanted to pull away, but she couldn’t move… she might have screamed? She wasn’t sure. She had no control over anything, not even after Sonic, or whatever it was, released his hold on her and let her collapse onto the floor. Everything hurt, she could barely breathe. As she watched her assailant tower over her, and her world started to go dark, she was vaguely aware of a different voice shouting something she couldn’t understand, along with streaks of red and black heading towards them.

***

Sonic and Shadow ran down the tunnel where they found Myla’s bag. The scream seemed to last forever, ending as they entered the Master Emerald’s chamber. The sight before them chilled Sonic to his core; Myla, shaking like she was being electrocuted, in the arms of someone that looked disturbingly like himself. The doppelgänger released her, letting her collapse onto the floor.

“I’ll take care of him,” Shadow said calmly. “Get to Myla and get her out of here.” Sonic nodded.

“Got it. Let’s go.”

Shadow darted towards the aggressor, yelling Sonic’s name in order to draw its attention away from Myla before slamming him into a nearby wall. What he thought to be nothing more than an illusion, reminiscent of those used by Infinite, was surprisingly solid… and made a metallic clang when it hit the wall.

“It seems the doctor has improved upon your original design, Metal,” he said with a smirk, pinning the robot to the wall. “I must commend him; if I didn’t know better, I would have thought you to be the real Sonic.” The robot grinned, his green eyes turning red as he grasped Shadow’s shoulders, pushing him backwards.

“He’s improved many things, Shadow the Hedgehog,” he said, his voice like Sonic’s but gaining a robotic undertone. “Would you like to see?”

“Please.”

***

Sonic waited until Shadow had gotten… Other Sonic away from Myla before running in to grab her. She had stopped twitching, which he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. He knelt beside her; her eyes were closed, she looked… he shook his head, reaching down to check her pulse; it was weak but it was there. He could see her chest rise slightly, she was still breathing… she was still alive. He picked her up as carefully as possible, almost thankful when she whimpered in pain.

“Hang on, Myla…” Her violet eyes opened a little. “Hey buddy…”

She didn’t say anything; he wasn’t sure that she could right now. She looked frightened and unsure, and Sonic would be lying if he said that didn’t hurt a little… that after everything they’d been through together, she didn’t trust him right now. But then again, after what just saw happen to her, he honestly couldn’t blame her.

“It’s me, Myla...” One of her hands reached up to his cheek. He tilted his head to lean into her touch; she was so cold, despite the heat from the volcano, her hand trembling. A small, weak smile curled her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was another pained whimper, her body tensing up again.

“Stay with me, buddy,” he begged, holding her close to him. He heard Shadow and the imposter fighting behind them; he needed to get her out before they were noticed. As Myla’s hand dropped from his face, the rest of her going limp in his arms, Sonic ran back into the tunnels, heading literally anywhere but there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Live Wire” - Fozzy 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5PflqZdJO0
> 
> The idea of Metal Sonic looking exactly like Sonic, rather than his usual more robotic form, comes from the 90’s Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, season one, episode two, “Sonic and Sally”.
> 
> As previously mentioned, I am old.


	5. Adrenaline

Shadow would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy a good battle; the rush of adrenaline he gained from fighting a challenging opponent was one of his favorite feelings in life. He sparred with Sonic now and then, Knuckles as well, and he would never admit that they were some of his favorite people to battle.

Amy absolutely throttled him with her hammer once; he would never admit that, nor how much he enjoyed it, to anyone. Except her. Maybe. Someday.

This new Metal Sonic was a unique and interesting challenge; he had always been on par with this organic counterpart in terms of speed and skill, though when it came down to the wire, Sonic always prevailed over Metal. Shadow had his own theory as to why; machines are only able to to give one hundred percent at any given time, where as organic species are often able to squeeze out a little more than that, usually when there is dire need. Machines, even with the most sophisticated AI couldn’t get to that point. Probably; he’d have to discuss this with Tails sometime.

“So Eggman figured out that Myla was being attracted to the Master Emerald,” Shadow said casually, dodging some of Metal’s attacks. He liked doing interrogations during a battle, finding that people talked a lot more when trying not to get punched in the face; he was curious to see how well the tactic worked on a robot. Metal had artificial intelligence, but it was based upon an actual person: Sonic, who ran his mouth plenty of times while fighting with Shadow. Hopefully, this would work in his favor.

“The island came down the moment she obtained Infinite’s power,” Metal replied, coming at Shadow with a flurry of spin attacks. “It was attracted to the girl; she was not attracted to it.”

“That’s absurd.” Shadow dodged another attack, managing to clock Metal in the back of the head with his foot. “There’s no way Myla’s powerful enough to bring down the entire island.” Metal started to laugh, which was the least joyful thing Shadow had heard in his entire life.

“What little you know, hedgehog,” Metal said mockingly. “Do you not remember what the doctor and his minion were able to do with the power she now has?”

“I was there; I don’t remember seeing you.” He could feel himself starting to tire, which wasn’t great, but he needed to give Sonic time to get Myla to safety… he probably should have set up some sort of rendezvous point with Sonic. Oh well, he’d find them later.

“Along with the power I possess,” he heard Metal continue. “That child could destroy the entire world if she wanted to… or was made to.”

“What power? All the ruby prototypes were destroyed!” Sonic and Myla were out of the chamber by now, maybe even out of the volcano. Now all he needed was a distraction, something to get himself away… the way he was hurtling towards the ground right now, however, told him this would be easier said than done.

“The last prototype was not destroyed; Doctor Eggman found it.” Metal’s words sent a shiver through him; Infinite’s prototype vanished alongside him, the ultimate version had been destroyed by Sonic, Myla and Sonic when they followed Eggman into Null Space and took out his Death Egg robot. If what Metal said was true, then Myla didn’t have the full power of the prototypes.

“Is that what’s powering you now?” Shadow asked as he got to his feet. “That final prototype?”

“Brilliant deduction.” Metal came at him at full speed, he barely managed to step aside. What he wouldn’t give for a a chaos emerald right now, something to give him the upper hand…

Wait.

Hang on.

If it ever got out that he didn’t think of this sooner, he would never live it down.

“You’re forgetting something, Metal,” he said, staggering backwards. “Sonic and Myla defeated Infinite when he was in possession of the final prototype… and they defeated the doctor with his finished Ruby…” He looked at the robot and grinned. “What makes you think you stand a chance against them?”

Sonic the Hedgehog was many things; courageous, selfless, caring… but under all that, he was also a very proud hedgehog, though he never allowed that pride to get the better of him. Metal was created from Sonic; he was created to be better than Sonic, an enhanced version.

The pride of Sonic the Hedgehog was not going to be contained by Metal.

The robot let out a scream of absolute rage before charging at Shadow again. He didn’t move; just a little closer, that was all he needed.

“CHAOS CONTROL.” The Master Emerald was more powerful than all the chaos emeralds combined, and Shadow felt that as he tapped into it. Still, he was confident he could use it to teleport behind Metal, then use the chaos spear to, at the very least, incapacitate Metal and allow himself to escape, to regroup with Sonic and Myla, and get back to the City…

He didn’t expect to find himself somewhere outside of the volcano, plummeting towards the ground. Clearly he had underestimated the power of the Emerald or overestimated his own abilities. A little of both maybe. Not that it was going to matter in about thirty seconds or so; even he wasn’t going to survive hitting the ground from this height… Amy was never going to know what really happened to him, she would probably think, hell they all would probably think that Metal had taken him out.

Though to be honest, that was a lot better than “underestimated the power of the Master Emerald and chaos controlled himself to death”…

“Gotcha!” Shadow suddenly felt a hand grasp his wrist, gripping tight. He stopped falling with a sudden jerk that would probably kill his arm later. “Knuckles, I’ve got him!”

“Tails?!” He looked up and there was the young fox, holding on to him for dear life.

“We’re coming in for a landing, just hang on!” Shadow reached up with his free hand and held on to Tails.

“Nice catch,” he said after a moment. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Tails replied cheerfully. “It was Knuckles that spotted you; he said he felt the Master Emerald’s energy, but we’re nowhere near Hidden Palace. Suddenly you were falling out of the sky!”

“Where are we?”

“Just on the edge of the island, near the beach.” A moment later, they had reached the ground, Tails making sure Shadow was steady before letting him go. Knuckles landed near by, hurrying over to them.

“What happened, where’s Sonic?” he asked. “Did you find Myla?” Shadow felt another surge of adrenaline course through him, which was probably the only thing keeping him on his feet right now.

“Shadow?” Tails asked, sounding concerned. “Do you want to sit down..?”

“We found Myla,” he finally said. “She’s with Sonic… I don’t know where they are, I stayed behind to stop Metal…” Shadow heard his companions clamoring for more information, but answers would have to wait. As his adrenaline hit rock bottom, Shadow the Hedgehog hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Adrenaline” by Shinedown
> 
> https://youtu.be/ZGhJKiMR4XY
> 
> I’ve started compiling the songs I’ve used in this story into a playlist on YouTube. Visit at your own risk, as some of them might be a little spoiler-y.
> 
> https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOmKNtvNLzx_hsM84pKjPtq7JSKDBhMWZ


	6. A Fading Star

Myla felt nothing but pain; it prickled across her entire body and burrowed down to her bones, latching on tight and refusing to let go. She was vaguely aware that she was being carried by someone moving very fast. A voice was saying… something. “Hang on”, “I’ve got you”… “don’t leave me”? She couldn’t be sure. She wanted to open her eyes, wanted to speak, ask what was going on. Doing either took more energy than she had right now.

Somehow though, under her pain and exhaustion, Myla knew that she was safe.

She felt like she was fading. She couldn’t explain the feeling any better than that. She wondered if she was dying; she hoped not. She didn’t want to die… she really didn’t. She wanted to be out of the way, she wanted to not be an inconvenience to anyone… but she never wanted to die.

Right..?

Myla tried to concentrate on something, anything that would keep her tethered to this world. She listened to the sound of the world rushing past her, but it was so unsettling, like static over a radio. She had almost given up when she finally latched on to a thumping noise, one that coincided with a pounding that she felt against her cheek. Eventually she figured out it was a heartbeat, hard and fast, like it was in a state of panic. It took so much effort to open her eyes, revealing some blue and tan fur. She eventually managed to move her head to get a better look; Sonic was carrying her. Sonic’s heart was racing as he ran with her in his arms…

“Hang on, buddy,” she heard him say; his voice was tired, desperate… frightened.

“Sonic…” Oh, how it hurt to speak, but it was worth it when he looked down her, his green eyes awash with relief.

“I’ve got you,” he assured her. “We’re almost off the island, we’ll be back to the City soon…” He smiled at her, but his expression was also serious. “I need you to hang on for me, okay?” She nodded as best she could before letting her head fall back against his chest, focusing on his heartbeat once again. He needed her to stay with him; she just needed him. “Don’t leave me, My… okay? Don’t you leave me.” She wanted to answer him, wanted to promise she’d stay.

She barely managed to nod.

***

Metal Sonic watched with annoyance as Shadow the Hedgehog harnessed the power of the Master Emerald and teleported away; he didn’t think the hedgehog meant to run, he was not the type to flee from the battle. Not like his real target, whom he now saw was gone. The doctor would not like this, but he would find her again. She was still alive, fortunately, though barely. He could feel her life force as if it was his own, thanks to the prototype Doctor Eggman had placed inside of him. It was an interesting feeling; he wondered how it would feel once she was dead.

He couldn’t kill her just yet, not until the energies of the old ruby prototypes had been extracted. His master was working on that process, likely being ready for it once he returned with the child. What had they called her? Myla? The doctor had never addressed her by name, only as “that yellow hedgehog”. As he flew out of the Hidden Palace, intent on tracking the yellow hedgehog, Metal searched through the various databases Doctor Eggman had given him access to; one of the many advantages to being a robot, he could just pull it up in front of him.

Searching for “Myla the Hedgehog” brought up very little; records of her existence stated she was an orphan, abandoned as a young child, able to say her name but not much more. She lived in an orphanage her entire life, which was curious to Metal. There seemed to be no attempts to find her a family, she just… stayed there. Why was that? He continued searching, unsure as to why he was so interested in this child he would be killing as soon as the doctor said he could.

His attention turned to a sealed file within Myla’s records; it was old, possibly one of the first thing ever written on her. Why was it so important that it had to be sealed?

And why was the password 12345?

Once he had unsealed the file, Metal found himself looking at medical records; a physical performed when the girl… when Myla was abandoned. Nothing out of the ordinary; she was small for her age, malnourished, but intelligent and cheerful. Further down in the file, however, Metal found what he was looking for, buried in some notes from the doctor that examined her.

“During the initial exam, it was found that Myla’s heartbeat was irregular and a scan was done. It was at this time that an atrial septal defect was found, which she has likely had since birth. It does not appear to be life threatening at this point, and will likely seal up on its own as Myla gets older. More scans will be done as needed.”

Metal did a quick search on “atrial septal defect” and started to grin. She was born with a small hole in her heart, one that could heal over time or could possibly cause more health problems as she got older. He frowned; when he went to incapacitate her back in the Hidden Palace, he had done so with a new invention of the doctor’s: tiny little taser barbs that worked together to electrocute her into a prone state until at least one of them was removed. This itself would need to be done with some sort of tool, as trying to do so by hand would just shock her more, and whoever was trying to help her. A device such as this could likely kill someone with a condition such as this. He continued reading the file; judging by the follow up notes, the hole had not healed itself and attempts were being made to find a doctor to fix the issue just before the war began. He would need to find her quickly, to ensure his trap wouldn’t kill her before the doctor was able to retrieve the energy from the Phantom Ruby prototypes.

He found himself wondering if the defect was why Myla had never been adopted. Perhaps no one was willing to take in a ‘broken’ child? Was that same defect why she’d been abandoned in the first place?

What would it take for that defect to be the death of her?

So many questions. He would have answers to at least some of them soon.

Before ending his search, Metal located one last thing; it wasn’t specifically about his Myla, but it was interesting nonetheless. The meaning of the name Myla was “soldier or merciful”. Ironic, as she had been a soldier before. Now to find out how merciful she could be.

***

“Sonic to Knuckles, can you hear me?” Knuckles almost dropped his communicator in his haste to answer the call from Sonic, much to the amusement of Tails.

“Sonic, where are you? Is Myla with you? Shadow said something about Metal Sonic and passed out!”

“I’ve got her,” Sonic replied. “We’re just off Angel Island, hiding out for a bit…” Sonic had stopped once they’d gotten to the Luminous Forest; he was tired and needed a rest before continuing to the City. He looked over at Myla, whom he’d set down on a bed of moss once he’d found somewhere for them to hide. He took the time to really look at her, something he hadn’t been able to do since they parted ways all those months ago. Her hair was longer, dirty and tangled; she looked so much thinner now than she had been. Her breathing was weak, but her heartbeat was strong… somehow it seemed too strong for someone lying unconscious...

It killed him to see her like this. She wasn’t the shining star he had always seen her as; she was fading. There was barely a glow left to her…

“She’s hurt bad, Knuckles… I gotta get her to the City.”

“Copy that. Tails and I have Shadow, we’ll make our way back to the city on our own.”

“You said he’s passed out, is he okay?”

“I think he’s just exhausted; he used the Master Emerald to do a chaos control and teleported himself halfway across the island.” There was silence for a moment. “Sonic?”

“You can do that?!”

“Apparently? I honestly never thought about it before.”

“Neither had I…” He shook his head. “I’m going to get some rest, then head for the city. I’ll see you soon; Sonic out.”

Knuckles pocketed his communicator and looked over at Tails. They had been traveling on foot, trading off who carried Shadow, and had just now reached Mushroom Hills.

“What do you think?” He asked. “Should we try to fly back?”

“It would be faster,” Tails agreed, readying himself to carry Shadow. “Do you think Myla’s going to be okay?” Knuckles shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “We don’t know what happened to her, so we’ll have to wait and see.” Tails nodded.

“Sonic sounds worried…”

“Myla’s his friend. He’d worry if it was any of us.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” There was something in the young fox’s voice that puzzled Knuckles, but he couldn’t put a finger on what it was. He’d have to worry about it later; right now, they needed to get home.

***

“Myla… Myla, can you hear me now?” Myla opened her eyes. Nothing hurt anymore and she felt warm. Was she dead? She didn’t feel dead, as weird as that sounded. She was lying on her back, looking up at a clear blue sky. She moved her head a little to get a better look around. She wasn’t sure where she was, but it wasn’t anywhere she’d seen before. She could see a temple, surrounded by trees. Next to her was a fountain… and sitting on the fountain was a young tan echidna.

“Tikal?” Myla asked as she pushed herself up. She then paused. “How do I know your name? I’ve… I’ve never met you before… have I?”

“No, we’ve never met before,” Tikal assured her. “But dreams are funny that way; people you’ve never met know you as well as people who’ve known you for years.”

“No one alive has known me for years…” She sighed. “I’m dreaming then? Why?”

“You’re hurt, pretty severely. I don’t know that you have the energy to do much more than sleep right now.”

“Right… that… whatever it was… your voice is familiar…”

“I was calling to you in the caves; I was trying to warn you about the robot, but neither of us had enough power to make a solid connection.” Myla raised an eyebrow.

“That makes it sound like I have power. I’ve never had power in my life.” Tikal frowned.

“No one has told you then… oh dear…”

“Told me what?”

“The power of the Phantom Ruby rests within you now…”

“…what.”

“I am aware of how insane it sounds, but it’s true… when the other prototypes broke, their power went to Infinite; when you and Sonic defeated Infinite, his prototype was cast away, leaving you as the only conduit for that power.” Tikal smiled sadly. “Now, that power is attracting power to it…”

“Angel Island… the Master Emerald… how do I suddenly know all this?”

“The magic of dreams, it’s easier for you to just understand than for me to have to explain it all.” This sounded just as crazy as being the vessel for the Phantom Ruby’s powers, but Myla decided to just go with it.

“So what do I do?” She could hear panic rising in her voice and tried to compose herself. “I don’t want this power, it’s dangerous… it brought down an entire island!”

“You have to learn to control it, it’s the only way. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to stop attracting power from other places.” Tikal suddenly shivered hard. “Oh dear… you need to go…”

“Wait, what? Tikal, I can’t just leave, I don’t know what to do… how am I just going to control this?”

“I’m sorry, Myla, but you have to go. Sonic needs you….”

“What?!”

Myla’s eyes shot open. The pain was back, the cold was back… she definitely wasn’t dreaming anymore. She could hear crashes around her, she could hear Sonic… it sounded like he was hurt. She pushed herself up, feeling the pain shoot through her with every movement. She looked around. She saw Sonic lying prone on the ground… and then she saw him.

“NO.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “The Light of a Fading Star” - Flogging Molly
> 
> https://youtu.be/B_ISJ6bFf4s


	7. Conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I forgot to mention last chapter: no one was more surprised by the meaning of Myla’s name than me. Myla was a name I used in a TTRPG I was part of; she had long hair that she wore in pigtails, dyed in an ombré style with orange at the top and white at the bottom. Her full name was Myla Powers, because I am a goddamn nerd. It was a joke that I was ridiculously proud of that noooooobody got.
> 
> I don’t know what made me use Myla for this fic, but I’m glad I did.

Sonic sat down next to Myla, resting his hand on her forehead; she was still cold, still unconscious. He couldn’t help wondering if Metal had done something more to her than the electrocution Sonic had witnessed, or if some lingering injury from Infinite was finally catching up to her.

Was he going to be able to get her home in time for someone to help her?

“Probably not.”

The blow to Sonic’s head came from out of nowhere, sending him flying backwards, away from Myla and into some brush. He pulled himself out, his head spinning.

“Is that all it’s going to take, hedgehog?” Sonic looked up; Metal was hovering over Myla, his eyes glowing red, a smirk on his face.

“Get away from her,” Sonic hissed, getting to his feet. He couldn’t look at any version of Metal without remembering how he was created; the feel of the electricity coursing through him as Eggman copied his genetic code, the taste of bile in his mouth… but at least back then, you could tell that Metal was a robot. This one looked, sounded and acted like him. This one fooled Myla and tried to kill her.

“Or what?” Metal taunted as he landed on the ground between Sonic and Myla. “Don’t worry, I’m not here for her. Yet.”

“You’re not taking her!” Sonic charged at Metal, barely managing to stop before hitting Myla when Metal dodged him. Metal tackled him from the side, driving Sonic through a few trees and more brush, into the ground.

“Shadow mentioned something before he ran from me,” Metal said, his voice dark and chilling. “It was only together that you and Myla defeated the doctor and Infinite; so before I can take care of her, I need to take care of you.” Sonic leapt out of the way as Metal dive bombed towards him, barely managing to escape the impact. That was the biggest problem with fighting Metal; he knew what Metal was going to do, but Metal also knew everything Sonic was going to do. They could, and previously had, fight for hours before one of them finally gave up. The problem was that Metal had no to stamina to lose.

“What did you do to her?” Sonic yelled, trying to figure out some way out of this. He couldn’t just grab Myla and run, Metal would just keep chasing them until he got what he wanted.

“An electrical charge, distributed through small barbs that attached to her when she was in my embrace.” He smirked. “They are still stuck to her, keeping her incapacitated. That’s what they’re designed for of course, not to kill. Had I known about her condition, I would have used another method.”

“What condition?” Sonic charged again, only for Metal to dodge. Metal did the same, receiving the same result. It was going to take forever at this rate. Myla didn’t have forever…

“You mean no one told you?” Metal started to laugh. “Little miss hero hedgehog has a heart condition; it’s a wonder she’s still alive, to be honest. Sadly, I need her alive as much as you do.”

Sonic ignored everything after “has a heart condition”; if Metal wasn’t lying, Myla may have even less time than he thought. He had to do something, and he had to do it fast.

That’s when he heard it. The sound. The sound that prefaced six months of torture and some of the worst beatings he’d ever had; the reality warp… it couldn’t be. He tried not to believe it, not even when Infinite appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the throat and throwing him into the air. Not even a second later, Infinite was next to him, driving his fist straight into Sonic’s chest, thrusting him into the ground. Sonic lay on his back, gasping for air, watching Infinite ready one of his energy balls.

“Goodbye,” Infinite said with a smirk. “And good riddance, Sonic the Hedgehog.” He hurled the energy ball towards Sonic with a swift movement. Like it had so many times before in his battles with Infinite, time slowed to a crawl… only speeding up when he heard a yell.

“NO.”

A darkness appeared between Sonic and the energy ball. The energy ball collided with the darkness… and completely disappeared. He heard the reality warp sound again, but it was different. Somehow, it was less foreboding… it actually gave him hope.

“What…” The darkness now seemed more person shaped… hedgehog shaped… “Myla?” Myla looked over her shoulder at him, keeping herself between Infinite and Sonic. Sonic could see fire behind her violet eyes, as well as an anger in her that he didn’t know she had. She looked towards Infinite just as he hurled another energy ball towards them. Sonic watched in awe as she punched the ball seconds before it would have hit her, shattering it into tiny pieces.

“Well, well,” Infinite said with a smirk. “Someone’s decided to come play ball.”

“Sorry,” Myla replied. “I forgot my bat at home.” The tone of her voice made Sonic shiver. It sounded so… dark. Not evil, just… dark.

“I’m sure we’ll get by.” Infinite dove at her, moving just as fast as ever. Before Sonic could even think to warn her, Myla was behind Infinite, landing a solid kick on the back of his head, sending him flying.

“I might; not so sure about you.” The fight went on like that; Infinite would attack, Myla would dodge and counter. She never attacked him head on, seeming to prefer playing defense to Infinite’s offense. Sonic got to his feet, moving out of the way of their battle, watching in awe. She was using the ruby’s powers… but how…

Infinite got behind Myla after she tried to counter him again, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight against his chest. She started to struggle, flailing her head like she was trying to hit him.

“You can’t control these powers, can you?” Infinite asked as she continued to struggle. “Something is helping you…”

“Infinite!” Sonic yelled, up at him. “Let her go!” He was ready to make his way up to the pair when Metal attacked, knocking him back into the trees once more.

“Sonic!” Myla yelled, struggling harder. Infinite raised an eyebrow, grinning a little.

“Oh, is that it? Your desire to protect him… is that love, child? How sweet…” He started to chuckle, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Would he be able to return your love if he knew how you abandoned all those people to their deaths?” Myla tensed instantly; when she did, Infinite hurled her towards the ground, where she landed with sickening thud.

“Myla!” Sonic yelled. He tried to get back over to her, only to have Metal block him at every attempt. He could see Infinite charging another energy ball, bigger than the last, as Myla staggered to her feet. “Myla! Look out!”

Infinite threw the ball at her, while her back was still to him. Just before it hit, much to the surprise of everyone, including herself… she caught it. She looked at the ball, then at Infinite. As the ball grew larger, she started to grin.

“Batter up.” The ball flew back at Infinite, hitting him square in the chest… causing him to disappear. An illusion, Sonic realized. Created by Metal to throw him off…

“Very good, Hedgeho-“ Metal didn’t get to finish his taunt; the energy ball suddenly changed course, hitting him square in the chest. Sonic watched in… horror? Surprise? He wasn’t sure what he felt as he caught his breath, watching Metal explode into pieces, his head landing in the moss bed Myla had been lying on. His red eyes flickered a few times before going dark.

“Myla?” Sonic asked carefully as he hurried over to her, stopping a few feet away. She hadn’t moved since she threw the energy ball back at Infinite. Sonic wasn’t sure if she had thrown the energy at Metal or if it was just some amazing ricochet. Either way, he didn’t want to startle her, not when she didn’t seem to be completely in control right now. “Buddy? You okay..?” Her head shook a little as she collapsed onto her knees, Sonic rushing to catch her before she went face first into the ground. “Myla?!”

“Don’t think I can do that again,” she muttered. “Sorry…”

“For what?” Sonic gently positioned her so she was on her back. “You saved my life…”

“You saved mine first…” Sonic chuckled a little; this seemed to be a joke between them now.

“What did he say to you?”

“N-nothing,” Myla replied, her voice wavering, full of pain. Sonic’s eyes widened as he started checking her over. Now that he knew there was something to look for, he could see the barbs that Metal told him about. They looked like little burdock pieces, barely the size of a pea, on her arms, her neck… anywhere Metal had touched her. When he went to pull one off, it shocked him.

“Myla… are those still hurting you..?” She nodded a little, whimper softly as Sonic gathered her into his arms again, resting her head on his shoulder. “Why would you…” He was angry, he could hear it in his voice, but for the life of him he didn’t understand where it was coming from. “That was so stupid, you could have gotten yourself killed, then where would we be?!” He felt her flinch in his arms, but he thought nothing of it. He couldn’t, not right now. “Okay, hang on. I’ll get you to the City, just… just hang on…” Her hand moved slowly to rest on his other shoulder, gripping lightly. “Good… that’s good. Here we go.”

As she listened to Sonic charge a peel out, his heart racing once more, Myla was painfully aware of two things that Sonic wasn’t. The first was that she loved Sonic with all of her heart and would do anything to keep him safe. The second was that now she knew he didn’t feel the same way. It should have been obvious all this time; she was just his battle buddy. There’s no use for a battle buddy when there’s no battle… that was fine. Once this was over, once Eggman was defeated, she’d leave and never bother him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Conflict” - Disturbed
> 
> https://youtu.be/_K1XrK_hiBI


	8. Say

Metal felt his head snap into place on his torso, followed by his arms and legs. How fortunate for him that the doctor had decided to make his body hold together with powerful magnets; Myla’s energy was more than enough to blow him apart, but not enough to destroy him. And now he knew something very valuable: Myla could use the Phantom Ruby’s powers, but they seemed to be tied to her emotions and she barely had any control over them. It would be easy enough to use that to his advantage. All he needed was a bit of leverage and then Myla would be all his.

***

Shadow was walking on his own when they returned to the City. He thanked Tails again for helping him, an act he seemed surprised over. Shadow was trying to be less… distant. He was glad it seemed to be noticeable.

“Shadow!” He stopped, a smile coming over his face. He turned, just as Amy launched herself into his arms. He hugged her tight. He knew she’d be safe here, but seeing her was the best knowledge of all.

“Hello beautiful,” he said, kissing her cheek. “How’s everything going here?”

“Good, we’ve gotten a lot of the reconstruction done. Are Sonic and Myla with you?”

“…they aren’t here yet?”

“No…” Shadow looked over at Knuckles and Tails, both of whom looked worried. “They should have been here before us…”

“I can go look for them,” Tails said. “Luminous Forest is easy to get lost in, one wrong turn and you’re going out the way you came in.” Shadow was about to agree with this plan when he heard the sound; a large boom in the distance.

“I don’t think that’s necessary now, Tails,” Knuckles said with a grin. Seconds later, Sonic skid to a stop in front of them. He was covered in dirt and sweat, Myla in his arms, one of her hands gripping her shoulder. She looked worse now than the last time Shadow saw her, which was concerning.

“Sorry we’re late,” Sonic said hurriedly before turning to Tails. “Tails, I need you to take a look at these things that are on her, but don’t touch them! They’ll shock anyone that does.”

“Let’s get her inside my workshop,” Tails said. “I can get a better look in there. What happened?”

“Metal… he put them on her. She took him out, but they’re still hurting her…”

“Okay, I’ll get to work.”

“We should get some food in her somehow,” Shadow said. “She’d been living on raw mushrooms when I found her, god knows if she ate anything else after that.” Sonic looked angry, but Shadow could tell it wasn’t at him. He was angry at Myla. “Here, I can take her.” He offered his arms. “You look like you could use a good meal too.”

“Thanks. I’ll get cleaned up and come back.” Sonic handed Myla to him, prying her hand off his shoulder. She cried out, more in protest than pain, her eyes opening a little. She looked at Shadow, then over at Sonic, who still looked angered. She looked so sad. A tear rolled down her cheek as her eyes closed again. Shadow wasn’t sure what to do with this information as he turned to address Tails.

“Lead the way.” He turned back to Sonic, only to find he’d already gone. Shadow looked at Knuckles, who nodded and headed after him.

“What can I do?” Amy asked. Shadow looked at her, then down at Myla. He honestly had no idea.

“Head to the hospital,” Tails said quickly. “Have some people come to my workshop; I might have something there that can get these things off, they can get her to the hospital after I’m done.”

“You got it.” Amy kissed Shadow on the cheek and hurried off. He smiled, happily, before following Tails.

***

Sonic found himself at one of many places he had called home over the years; a small bungalow that his uncle had left to him. He didn’t stay there much, but now it was the only place he wanted to be. It was somehow still in one peace after the war, the key he’d left hidden inside a flower pot still there… and the inside was just as empty as the last time he saw it. There was a couch in the living room, a bed in the bedroom and nothing more.

Myla had called it cozy when they stopped there once. She couldn’t imagine having an entire room to herself, let alone an entire house. He asked her what she meant by that.

“I grew up in an orphanage,” she replied. “The bedroom was one big room filled with beds, each bed had a small dresser next to it for clothes or other belongings if you had them.”

“Do you want to go get yours?”

“My what?”

“Your clothes and stuff.” To this day, he remembered her sad smile as she shook her head. “Why not, we could easily…”

“I don’t have anything there. I’ve got everything I own with me.”

He never brought it up again; he hated making her sad… he loved her smile, her laugh… so why was he so upset with her right now? Why did he feel like he hated her right now?

He went to the bathroom and took the longest shower of his life, standing under the water, trying to figure out what was going on. He’d been so happy to see her and now he didn’t want to be anywhere near her; it was killing him and he did not know why.

He also didn’t know why he was smelling chili dogs right now. How hard had Infinite hit him?

Sonic turned off the shower, stepped out and dried off. When he went out to his kitchen, Knuckles was standing at the stove.

“You better be hungry,” he said. “I don’t cook for just anyone.”

“Is this a date, Knuckle-head?” Sonic teased, looking in his cupboards for some plates. He was partially surprised to see that he had some, though they could use a quick wash. He took a couple down, washed and dried them, setting them down by Knuckles on the counter.

“If you want, but I feel like you could have better company than me.” Sonic shrugged and went over to the fridge, happy to find he had a couple sodas in there and they were actually cold.

They sat on his old couch in silence, eating their chili dogs, staring at the opposite wall. Sonic pondered getting a television, but that seemed like a waste. He wasn’t planning on staying long, he never did. After they got the whole thing with Myla settled, he’d move on again. He wasn’t a homebody, hadn’t been since he was a kid…

“So what happened?”

“What?” Knuckles finished the rest of his second chili dog, took a swig from his soda and turned to Sonic.

“You and Myla should have easily beat me, Tails and Shadow back here. But you didn’t; what happened?” Sonic sighed, shaking his head. He was silent for a minute or two, appreciating that Knuckles wasn’t pushing him to talk. Another minute later, it all came out; the ambush from the newly designed Metal Sonic, who looked so much like him that Myla was fooled; Metal summoning an illusion of Infinite that could of killed Sonic… Myla coming to his rescue.

“She was just suddenly there,” Sonic said. “Standing between me and Infinite. She used the same attacks Infinite used and took him out, she took Metal out…”

“So what’s the problem?”

“You saw the state she’s in!” Sonic got to his feet, pacing back and forth. “Those things Metal put on her, they’re actively hurting her! He said she has some heart condition… she could have died!”

“Okay… but so could’ve you.” Sonic stopped.

“What’s that got to do with it? I’ve almost died like, a million times.” Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

“You really don’t get it. Wow.”

“What don’t I get?” Knuckles shook his head and got to his feet.

“I’m going to head to the hospital; if Myla might have a heart condition, the doctors should know.”

“What don’t I get?” Knuckles put a hand on his shoulder.

“Take some time. Figure it out. If you don’t get it in a couple days, I’ll have Amy come hit you with her hammer.” Knuckles headed out, leaving Sonic to stare after him in confusion. After a moment, unable to think of anything else, he went and did the dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Say” - John Mayer
> 
> https://youtu.be/phaIklEphSM


	9. Songs About Rain

“Tails…?” Tails looked up from his magnifying glass to look at Myla; she looked ill, tired… almost dead. But she was talking, and that was a great sign.

“Hey Myla,” he replied cheerily. “Hold still for me, okay? I’m still trying to get these things off of you. I think we’re almost done, but I don’t want to leave any.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice exhausted but earnest. “It doesn’t hurt as much to talk now…”

“Good!” The ‘as much’ was concerning, but Tails decided that was better than nothing as he gently removed another one of the barbs. He had a pair of small wooden tongs that he often used to grab hot things and while they were a bit big for this task, he made it work. “These things are horrible,” he continued. “But thankfully over complicated in their design, so… I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear about this…”

“No, it’s okay,” she moved her head a little to smile at him. “I love hearing people talk about things they love; please, keep going?” Tails smiled and continued talking, telling her how removing just one barb broke the whole network, how they kept the amperage low so she was in pain and easy to move but not kill her. She asked questions now and then, he answered as simply as he could. He felt bad now that he’d been so jealous of her.

When he met Myla for the first time, he and little Sonic, the one from the other universe, were looking for his Sonic, who he’d thought dead for months. Eggman had mentioned that Sonic was in the Mystic Jungle, so the two of them headed there. Tails had seen a hedgehog like silhouette and became so excited… only to get closer and see it was someone else. They were yellow, wearing a tie dye shirt and black sneakers… little Sonic came to a stop next to them as Tails landed.

“Have we met before?” Tails asked

“No, I don’t think so,” she replied. “But you’re Tails, right? And this…” She looked down at little Sonic. “Is somehow the strangest thing I’ve seen today…” Little Sonic tilted his head a little, seemingly confused by her statement. “You’re not the Sonic I know…”

“You know Sonic?” Tails asked.

“Yeah, the resistance sent me to rescue him from the Death Egg,” she replied, a fond smile on her face. “He ended up saving me, and we’ve been working together ever since.”

Tails felt his heart sink when she said that, feeling like… like Sonic had replaced him somehow, with this… whoever she was.

“Where is he, is he okay?”

“He’s okay, he’s resting back at the base.” She shuddered a little. “He had a run in with that Infinite thing again… he’s going to be so happy to see you!”

“He is?”

“Yeah! He’s told me so much about you, he’s been worried sick.” She held out her hand to him, smiling. “I’m Myla; lets get you back, yeah?” He smiled a little, shaking her hand.

“Yeah… let’s go.”

Myla had been right; Sonic was happy to see him, hugging him tight when they arrived. He could feel Sonic giving him a subtle pat down, checking for any injuries. Tails saw him look over at Myla and smile at her, nodding a little as if thanking her for something. He still felt so jealous… it was clear that Sonic was happy to see him, that he hadn’t been replaced… but that jealousy remained.

And now, months later, he felt guilty that he hadn’t taken time to get to know Myla because honestly? She seemed like just the kind of person he’d like to know.

“What are you doing with the… whatever they are?” Myla asked, shaking Tails out of his thoughts.

“I’m destroying them as I go,” he informed her, demonstrating by placing one he’d removed on a nearby anvil and smashing it with a hammer. “It’s kind of sad how easy they are to destroy… Metal might have more, but at least he won’t be able to reuse these on you, or anyone else.” Myla let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you…” He was glad to hear relief, to know she wasn’t hurting anymore. Despite Sonic’s warning, he had tried removing one of the burrs without a tool and his hand went numb for a good five minutes. He couldn’t imagine how it felt for her, that power constantly surging through her… “You’ve known Sonic for a long time, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, longer than most. Why do you ask?” She shrugged.

“He’s…” She sighed. “He’s mad at me.”

“What? Why would he be mad at you?”

“I don’t know… never mind.” Tails looked up at her again; she was looking away from him, but he could tell how upset she was. She might have been crying. He didn’t know what to say about that.

“What kind of stuff do you like to do?” Tails asked. He wasn’t sure what made him ask; maybe because he’d been telling her all about the barbs Metal had put on her, sharing his enthusiasm with her. He really did want to know more about her, and there were still so many to go.

“Oh,” she said, clearly thinking about it. “I read old mysteries sometimes, play soccer… I used to sing before the war, play the guitar…”

“You like to sing, really?”

“Yeah… I haven’t in a long time. There was the war, then I left… now this… just… no time.”

“Maybe when this is over, you could pick it up again!” She smiled a little.

“I don’t know if I remember anything people would want to hear…”

“You never know.” Tails was going to leave it there, go back to chattering about electronics and machines. To his surprise, Myla started to sing.

“Well I thought I was over you, but I guess maybe I’m not. Because when I let you go, looks like lonely is all that I got… guess I’ll never know what could have been; sure ain’t helping this mood that I’m in…”

Tails pretended not to notice when she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes. The song never got happier, and for some reason, he felt like she’d started in the middle somewhere. He was still able to get the song’s story; a missed chance at love, regret over not roads not taken… the desire for the person they loved to be happy.

Tails couldn’t help wondering if it meant something to her personally. Either way, her voice was lovely.

“There, I think that’s the last of them.” He put his tools away and stood up, offering her his hand. “Come on, we need to get you to a hospital.” She looked confused as he gently helped her sit up.

“Why?”

“…Myla, you’re not well. You need some help…” She shook her head.

“I need to get away from here before Metal comes…”

“Metal? Sonic said you destroyed him…”

“He’s still out there… I can feel it…” She got herself to her feet and started walking towards the door. Her legs were unsteady, eventually leading to her steadying herself against anything she could find. Once her hand missed what she was going for, she ended up on her hands and knees on the floor.

“Myla!” Tails hurried over to her, helping her to her feet. “Please, Myla… you need help. Let us help you…”

“I don’t deserve your help,” she muttered, pulling away from him. Tails had to think fast, he couldn’t let Myla leave, not in this condition. Where was Amy with a doctor…

“Myla, think about it,” he said, gently taking hold of her arm again. “You’re not going to get far in this state… please…” Myla sighed softly, nodding her head a little.

“Alright… alright…” She looked at him. “Tails, I… I don’t think I can stand up anymore…” Tails helped her sit down by the door, keeping a hand on her arm the entire time. When Amy and some orderlies from the hospital arrived, the two of them were still sitting there, Tails telling Myla all about the things he’s been working on since the last time they saw each other.

“Hi, Amy,” Myla said, a tired smile on her face. “Tails was just telling me about you and Shadow; I’m really happy for you two.” Amy smiled back.

“Thanks, Myla!” She offered her hand to her, which Myla took and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. At that point, the orderlies rushed over and got her onto the stretcher they had brought with them. Tails relinquished his hold on her arm as they took her away.

“She was going to leave again,” he said softly. “She thinks Metal’s still out there, she said that she could feel him… I don’t know how I talked her into staying.”

“She’s hurting,” Amy replied. “Not just physically.” He nodded.

“She thinks Sonic’s mad at her…”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, she didn’t say.” Amy frowned.

“You should head to the hospital, sit with her. It’ll be nice for her, having a friend around.” Tails nodded and took off towards the hospital. Amy stood by the workshop for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do. Myla was hurting; Sonic seemed… off. And somewhere out there, Eggman was plotting his next move. She sighed, shaking her head. There were more important things to do right now than worry…

“Amy!” She turned around with a smile; Shadow was coming towards her. “I just saw Tails, he told me he’s going to stay with Myla. Knuckles went off to talk to Sonic, which means I have literally nothing to do tonight.” He held out his hand to her. “Dinner?” She giggled and took his hand.

“Nothing would make me happier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Songs About Rain” - Gary Allen
> 
> https://youtu.be/iEkQGa_O5tU
> 
> Full Setlist (May Contain Spoilers): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOmKNtvNLzx_hsM84pKjPtq7JSKDBhMWZ
> 
> Fair warning, this setlist is slowing becoming a study in “how many Shinedown songs can I be inspired by before its too many”


	10. Hero

“I’m not going to sugar coat it,” Doctor Zell, an older brown bear, said to Knuckles and Tails, looking at Myla’s records on her meditablet. “I don’t know how she’s still alive.”

“So she does have a heart condition?” Knuckles asked. He’d managed to make it to the hospital shortly after the staff started taking care of Myla and was able to relay the information about the possible heart condition. They were outside her room now; she was in bed, seemingly asleep, hooked up to machines, an IV, wearing some sort of mask over her face…

“Yes, atrial septal defect,” Doctor Zell continued. “Basically, she was born with a small hole in her heart. These things can take care of themselves overtime, healing as the person gets older, but in some instances surgery may be required.”

“Is this one of those instances?”

“Possibly, but its going to have to wait until we get these other things resolved.”

“Other things?”

“She’s severely dehydrated, malnourished, her white blood cell count is dangerously low, one of her lungs and a few of her ribs are bruised, she clearly took a serious blow to the chest…” She sighed, shaking her head. “You said something about her having energy from that ruby of Eggman’s?” Knuckles and Tails nodded. “That may be the only reason she’s still alive… it’s not hyperbole to say that anyone else would have died from all this…”

“So what do we do?” Tails asked. “She keeps trying to leave, she thinks Metal is going to come after her…”

“She’s not going anywhere in her condition, unless it’s a better hospital,” Zell said sternly. “We gave her something to help her sleep, that’s really the best thing for her to do while she recovers. She’s on an IV to get her hydrated and to get some nutrients in her, we’re monitoring her lungs to make sure they aren’t filling with fluid, she’s on oxygen to help her breathe… I will personally chain her to the bed if I have to, but she’s not going anywhere until most of those issues are remedied.”

“What can we do?” Knuckles asked.

“Keep her company; you mentioned she was showing signs of PTSD? When she wakes up, which might not be for a while, get her to talk to you about it. We have some therapists on staff if she’s willing, but she may be more likely to talk to friends before anyone else.”

“The person she’s closest to is Sonic,” Tails said sadly. “And she thinks he’s mad at her.”

“He is, unfortunately,” Knuckles said flatly. “But he doesn’t know why, so he’s going to be doing some thinking… and if he doesn’t figure it out, I’m sending Amy over to hammer some sense into him.”

“Literally?”

“Literally.” Doctor Zell rolled her eyes.

“Regardless, have someone with her at all times, just in case this “Metal” does try to come after her.”

“I’ll start getting a schedule together,” Knuckles said. “Tails, can you stay with her for now?”

“Sure,” he replied with a nod. “Myla said she liked listening to people talk about stuff they love, and you know I can go on about machines for hours if needed.” Knuckles clapped him on the back, grinning.

“Thanks Tails; call me if you need anything, books or something maybe? I’ll have someone relieve you in a couple hours.” Tails nodded and went into Myla’s room, sitting down in the chair by her bed. She was still asleep, and thankfully it looked peaceful. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she had another nightmare, like the one Sonic had told them about, but he’d deal with it if it came up. Right now, he was going to get comfortable and ramble on about time travel mechanics and why they’re insane.

***

“Raw mushrooms?” Amy asked incredulously. “That was all she was eating?” She and Shadow were at her place, cuddled up up together on her couch with boxes of take out from the Chun-nan place down the street, a random old movie playing on her TV. “No wonder she’s in such rough shape…”

“Yeah,” Shadow agreed, taking a bite from his container of spicy noodles. “I got a couple of hot dogs into her when I first found her, but I don’t care what Sonic says, you can’t live on those alone.” Amy giggled.

“She was gone for a good three months… I can’t imagine eating just mushrooms for that long.”

“It’s a wonder she’s in as good of shape as she is.”

“You mean it’s a wonder she’s still alive.”

“That…” He booped her nose with the end of his chopstick, getting a little sauce on her. “Is exactly what I mean.” Amy laughed, wiping her face with a napkin and eating some of her tempura fried sweet potato, thinking.

“I keep thinking about what happened to her,” she said softly. “With Infinite I mean, before she joined the resistance… we never actually asked her what happened, just assumed she was a hero because she survived.” Shadow nodded solemnly; he didn’t know anything about Myla when he regrouped with the resistance following his own experiences with Infinite, all he had been told was that she’d survived a massacre in the City, and he didn’t think much about it. It wasn’t until they all became aware that Eggman was after her that they started looking deeper.

***

“I don’t get it,” Tails said as he continued searching through the records he had found. “There’s nothing in here that explains what Eggman would want with Myla. She grew up in an orphanage, someone abandoned her there when she was five or six years old…”

“Anyone else imagining a tiny Myla right now?” Charmy asked with a grin. Everyone around him rolled their eyes, but the idea was infectious and somehow they all imagined the same thing: a tiny ball of yellow floof with Myla’s violet eyes and bright smile, wearing a tie dye shirt that was much too big for her…

“How long did she stay there, Tails?” Rouge asked.

“Right up until the war… it looks like there were multiple attempts to find her a family, but they all fell through.”

“What did she do in the resistance before she came to work with us?”

“She was a runner; picked up and delivered supplies… occasionally did some secretarial work. I don’t know how she ended up in that battle to be honest…” He clicked on another file and was met with an Access Denied screen, asking for a five digit password. “Hmm… wonder what this is..?”

“Look into that later,” Knuckles said. “Did we ever find the surveillance footage from the Infinite attack, the one Myla survived?”

“Got it in this morning, haven’t watched it yet…” Tails closed out of Myla’s orphanage records and pulled up the video. “I don’t know how good the quality’s going to be.”

“Quality’s not an issue,” Shadow said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. “Just need to see if there’s something here that explains why Eggman is after Myla.” Tails nodded and pushed play.

The footage started with the battle already in progress; there were bodies lying everywhere, badniks and resistance alike. It looked like the resistance was winning at this point, which was… heart breaking. They all knew it wouldn’t last.

“There’s Myla!” Amy said, pointing to the screen. It took a moment for everyone to see where she was pointing, but once they all had it was easy to keep track of her. She wasn’t fighting, per say; there were various blockades made out of debris set up for fighters to take cover behind, and she was running from one to the next, delivering supplies, moving the injured out of the way. She was quick but clumsy, tripping over herself multiple times in her haste, getting back up a little slower each time.

“Here it comes,” Knuckles said softly. Seconds later, the first energy ball hit, taking out everything in its path. They all lost Myla in the chaos that followed, all of the people dying… “Where is she…”

“There!” Vector said, pointing to the bottom corner of the screen. Myla was lying on the ground, face down. She stayed there for what seemed like an eternity before she finally managed to push herself up and crawl behind one of the blockades… where she crouched down and covered her head with her hands. Even with the grainy footage, it was clear that her entire body was shaking in terror.

“Oh, Myla…” Amy whispered. Everyone else was still firing at Infinite, some exclaiming that their attacks were useless. The entire time, Myla stayed where she was, completely hidden behind the debris.

“What is she doing?!” Vector yelled, disgustedly. “She’s just sitting there!”

“She’s frightened, Vector,” Knuckles said angrily. “And for good reason, look what’s happening around her! Anyone in that position would have reacted the same!”

“I wouldn’t have,” Vector spat back. “She came here acting like this big hero and…” There was a sudden squeak noise, followed by a loud crash.

“Amy,” Shadow said casually, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Did you just hit Vector with your hammer?”

“You’re darn right I did,” she replied angrily. “And I’m not sorry about it!”

“No need to be,” Rouge remarked; everyone (save for Vector) nodded in agreement.

“There is no reason to resist.” Infinite’s voice still had the same effect on all of them; like a harsh winter wind, it sent shivers through all of them, chilling them to the bone. “Your savior is no more.” With a wave of his hand, an energy beam took out everything around him, all of the fighters on the ground…

Except for Myla, still completely hidden. A wispon suddenly landed beside her; everyone watched as she snatched it up and took aim at Infinite. She was still shaking, trying to steady herself to get off a shot.

“I can taste your terror, child,” Infinite taunted. “All that anxiety and doubt… it’s delicious.” He quickly launched an energy ball at her; it landed at Myla’s feet, throwing her backwards, knocking the wispon out of her hand. She pushed herself up, bracing herself on her arms as she looked up at Infinite, clearly waiting for him to finish her off.

“Run Myla,” Tails whispered, watching Infinite begin to charge another blast. “Just run…”

“Give into your fear,” the jackal commanded. Myla pushed herself up onto her feet, holding her stomach as she kept her eyes on him, still shaking, her eyes full of fear. “Flee, screaming, and I’ll let you live.” Myla took a few steps backwards before turning on her heel and running, Infinite laughing maniacally as she fled, just as she was told.

Tails stopped the footage there, going back to search through files – accidentally deleting some about attempts to find her a family, he’d have to fix that later – and looking through other video feeds. The rest just stood there for a moment, a minute… longer. All of them silent.

“She never claimed to be a hero,” Amy said, her voice soft and full of regret. “When she got here, she only said that she’d survived the attack…”

“We said she was a hero,” Knuckles agreed. “We told her how much we needed brave heroes like her, how she would be good for moral… we put that all that pressure on her…” He shook his head. “No wonder she left once it was over… Myla hadn’t been a soldier; we made her into one…”

“But she is a hero…” Tails had turned away from the monitor and looked at his friends. “She went and saved Sonic from the Death Egg, she found me and the other Sonic in the Mystic Jungle and got us home… she used the ruby prototype… to…” Everyone could see the light bulb turn on in Tails’ head as his eyes grew wide. “That’s it… Myla used one of the Phantom Ruby prototypes, she was the only one besides Infinite to do so! That has to be why Eggman is after her!”

“But all the prototypes were destroyed, weren’t they?” Amy asked. “Her’s exploded after she stopped the sun, Infinite’s vanished with him… she and the Sonics destroyed the last one when they teamed up against Eggman.”

“There has to be something else, something Eggman knows that we don’t… I’ll see what I can find; someone has to go find her before Eggman does!”

“I’ll go,” Shadow said. He wasn’t sure why he volunteered; it just felt like something he needed to do. “You and Knuckles should go after Sonic as soon as you can.”

“I think he said he was going to head for Emerald Hills,” Knuckles added. “We can get there pretty quickly once Tails finds what he’s looking for.”

***

“Still with me, Shadow?” Amy asked. He nodded, sighing a little.

“Yeah, sorry…” He put an arm around her, holding her close to him. “I never got to know her, not like you or anyone else… definitely not like Sonic…”

“I don’t think anyone got to know her like Sonic did… I really thought…”

“Thought what?”

“When Sonic left, I really thought that he was going to ask her to go with him. They seemed so close…” She sighed, shaking her head. “I guess I was happy that he wouldn’t be alone anymore, but then they both went their own ways…” Shadow kissed the top of her head.

“Nothing we can fix now; all we can do is help her recover.”

***

Thanks to the power of the Phantom Ruby prototype inside of him, Metal knew exactly where Myla was: back in the City, surrounded by Sonic and his friends. There was no point in trying to capture her right now; she would be able to sense him as well, giving her an advantage if he tried to sneak up on her. If he threatened anyone she cared for, she would just overpower him again. No, he needed to figure out a better plan than that. Once he did, his Myla would be back in his grasp.

Hm. His Myla. He had been thinking about her in that manner more and more lately. A side effect of his connection to Sonic, he assumed. Unexpected… but not unwanted. He grinned; there was a part of reality he hadn’t yet tried manipulating. No time like the present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Hero” - Skillet
> 
> https://youtu.be/uGcsIdGOuZY
> 
> Okay, this is important: I’ve added a tag to this story for non-consensual kissing. The next chapter is the reason this tag has been added. I will post another warning at the beginning of that chapter, but I want to make sure everyone is aware of this.


	11. If I Get Trapped, I’ll Never Heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR NON-CONSENSUAL KISSING IN THIS CHAPTER.
> 
> Please don’t think “it’s just kissing”. Non-Consensual anything can never be called ‘just’.
> 
> Thank you.

“Hey, that was great!” Sonic said cheerfully. “We’re like a well oiled machine! Fighting a… well oiled machine!” Myla, kneeling on the ground, panting with exhaustion, rolled her eyes at him. Her chest hurt so badly right now, she hoped she was hiding it well. She’d worked so hard to hide her heart condition, she didn’t want anyone to find out about it now. She noticed him holding out a fist to her; she smiled, bumping her own against his.

“You’re ridiculous,” she told him, carefully getting to her feet. “You know that right?” He grinned back at her as he put his hands behind his head.

“Yeah, I know. You love that about me.”

“Yeah, I do.” Myla flinched suddenly, blinking, confused.

“Myla? You okay?”

“That’s not what you said,” she said softly, backing away from him. “You said you knew… and that we needed to get back to the base…” Sonic’s grin turned wicked as his eyes glowed red, his arms going back down to his sides.

“Doesn’t make me wrong,” Metal said. His arms shot out towards her, grasping hold of her shoulders and pulling her to him. One arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tight against his chest while he gripped her chin with his other hand. “Tell me I’m wrong, lovely; tell me that you don’t love my counterpart.”

“Let go of me,” she hissed, struggling with him. This was a dream, she knew this was a dream, she just needed to wake herself up somehow.

“Why would I do that, my darling?” He smirked. “Why would I let you go, when this is exactly where I want you?” He maintained his grip on her chin as he learned down and kissed her. It felt so real… that should have woken her up screaming, why hadn’t she woken up screaming? She managed to get one of her hands out of his grip, using it to shove his face away from hers.

“How are you doing this?!”

“Dreams and nightmares are just another part of reality,” he replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “I would have loved to have given you a sweet little dream, but it would have been a cryptic mess. You likely would have spent the entire thing thinking I was your beloved Sonic.” He released his hold on her chin to grasp her wrist, twisting her arm slightly as he pinned it back to her side. “We couldn’t have that now, could we my love?”

“Stop calling me that!” This was a dream. She knew it was a dream. She couldn’t wake herself up, but she should be able to save herself at least. 

“Why would I do that?” He smirked at her. “You are lovely… and soon you’ll be all mine.” She glared up at him, shaking. Was it anger or fear… both perhaps. “Why not give in, my Myla? After all, I’m basically your Sonic, aren’t I?” She glared at him, her shaking now from pure anger.

“You may think that,” she scowled. “But you will never be my Sonic, and I will never love you like I love him.” Metal opened his mouth to say something more, but the voice that came out was not his.

“Myla, get down!”

The sound of the Sonic’s voice was enough to startle Metal into releasing his grip on Myla, allowing her drop to the ground like she was told, covering her head with her hands as she heard the sound of a spin attack colliding with a robot, followed by the sound of a reality warp. She tried not to panic; there was no way she could handle Infinite, not right now…

“Myla?” She felt a gentle hand rest on her back. “Myla it’s okay, he’s gone…” She looked up; Sonic was standing over her, a concerned look on his face. “Did he hurt you?” She shook her head as he helped her to her feet and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tight. She hugged back, sniffling a little. “My? What’s wrong?”

“This is just a dream,” she whispered. He sighed a little, smoothing down her hair.

“Is that so bad?”

“No… I’d rather have you in a dream than not at all.” He gently put his hand under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him.

“I won’t let him hurt you, My… dream or not, I’ll never let him hurt you.” She smiled a little.

“I know…”

***

Myla opened her eyes a little. It had all been a dream, just like she thought. Where was she? In a bed… somewhere. The hospital, that was it; Tails had talked her into going. She could have easily ignored his pleas, but… she knew how much Sonic cared for Tails and over time, she started to as well. Until today she had honestly thought he didn’t like her. Him telling her about he was doing while he worked so hard to help her had been one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her; he could have easily just been silent the entire time. She couldn’t make him worry, not after that.

She couldn’t worry her friends like that.

Speaking of Tails, he was sitting by her bed, talking to Rouge and Knuckles. They all were discussing something. Tails seemed upset, Knuckles was angry… no one seemed to be looking at her.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Knuckles exclaimed.

“He came by the base about twenty minutes ago,” Rouge said. “We were discussing sending out a team to find Eggman’s base, he said he’d take care of it…”

“He didn’t even come see Myla before he left…” Tails said. “She said he was mad at her, but I thought…”

Myla closed her eyes again, feeling tears run down her cheek. She didn’t need to hear anymore… as soon as they let her out of there, she was gone.

***

Metal came out of his ‘dream’ state in anger. Myla should not have been able to do that; she shouldn’t have been able to figure out she was in a dream, shouldn’t have been able to manipulate it in her favor. What he had told her about dreams and nightmares was true; he had actually attempted to give her a nice dream, but the moment she figured it out, it changed to a nightmare. She shouldn’t have been able to break free of the reality he’d made for her, shouldn’t have been able to summon Sonic…

Sonic; he was the key, of course, Metal had deduced this long ago. Sonic was the only reason she could use the ruby’s powers. Her love for him had awakened them, her desire to keep him safe made them stronger…

Metal grinned. There was that better plan he desired.

“Soon, my love… soon, Sonic will be gone and you will be all mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Monsters” - Shinedown 
> 
> https://youtu.be/J6sIK2KnhH8


	12. So Much Time

Sonic had left the City after checking in at the resistance base. It was weird calling it that now, the war being long over and Eggman’s empire being destroyed. He took time to watch the footage Tails had told him about, of Myla’s first encounter with Infinite. He knew the basics of what happened, of course, but seeing it… seeing how hard she’d tried to help, how scared she had been… it hurt. It hurt because she had done everything she could and still carried this guilt. It hurt more because he was still angry at her.

That was probably why when Rouge had suggested sending a team out to find Eggman’s base so they could stop his plans, he jumped on the task and ran with it. Literally. It needed to be done, and then he could move on with life. The world would be safe, again, and he and Myla could…

He and Myla. No matter what, when he thought about his future, he kept thinking about Myla being part of it. He was still so angry with her, but now at least he wanted her around. He couldn’t take her with him, though; not with how she threw herself into danger for him.

The realization was so sudden, he didn’t see the rock in his path until he tripped over it, sending himself flying, bouncing along the ground until he finally slid to a stop. How could he be so dumb, he’d said it so many times and yet still didn’t fully realize what had happened. Myla hadn’t just put herself in harm’s way to stop Infinite and Metal… she did it to save him. She had been in such pain, so much so that she could barely speak and somehow she’d gotten up and saved him. Not only saved him, she’d managed to control the Phantom Ruby energy within her and destroy both Infinite and Metal…

All because she wanted to save him… and he called her stupid for it.

Why did he do that?!

Sonic slapped his hand against his forehead, groaning in annoyance at himself.

“Way to go, idiot,” he muttered to himself. “The girl you love saves your life, and you call her stupid… that’s gratitude for you…”

Wait… what was that one bit?

Sonic let his hand slide off his face and stared at the sky above him. That was it, wasn’t it? That had been it this entire time. That was why he missed her when they parted ways, that was why he was thinking about her all the time, why he rushed off to find her when he heard she was in trouble… why he panicked and got angry when he thought he was going to lose her.

He loved her smile. He loved her laugh. He loved knowing that she was there, that she had his back.

He loved her…

Holy crap, he loved her.

Sonic jumped to his feet and started racing back towards the City… but then stopped. He knew he needed to talk to Myla, he needed to apologize; but he also needed to find Eggman’s base so they could stop him. But he didn’t want Myla to think he was mad at her, she might try to leave…

Thankfully, he still had Tails’ communicator on him.

“Sonic to literally anybody.” A moment later, he got a response.

“Rouge here, Sonic; what can I do for you?”

“No sign of Eggman’s base yet… have the scans picked up anything?”

“Not that I’ve heard; I can check again when I get back to base.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to bug you at home…”

“No, I’m not at home…” He could hear the hesitation in her voice. “I’m at the hospital with Myla.”

“What? She’s still in the hospital..?”

“She… she’s hurt bad, Sonic… she told Tails that Metal was still out there, that she could feel him, so we’re all taking a shift with her.”

“How bad…” his voice was trembling and he knew it.

“Pretty bad…” Sonic listened as Rouge went through Myla’s diagnosis; the bruised lung and ribs hit him the hardest. She’d gotten those from Infinite’s energy ball, he knew it… “The doctor said if not for the Phantom Ruby, she probably would have died…”

“I’m coming back, someone else can look for the base…”

“Sonic, no. You’re the best one for this job, you said so yourself. We’re all on alert here, Myla’s never alone. The doctors gave her something to help her sleep; they think she was conscious most of the time those things were on her. Tails got them all off, so she can get some rest and heal.”

“…I can’t lose her, Rouge…”

Rouge looked at her communicator, a small smile on her face. She’d had her suspicions about Sonic and Myla for some time, as well as suspicions that they didn’t know how much one loved the other. It sounded like Sonic was finally figuring things out.

“Sonic, listen to me,” she said soothingly. “Myla is safe; we’re not going to let anyone hurt her. The doctor’s are making sure she gets the help she needs…”

“She has nightmares,” Sonic said suddenly. “Talks in her sleep sometimes…”

“Okay, I’ll make sure everyone knows to keep an eye out for that. The best thing you can do for her is find that base.”

“Right… right…” There was silence for a moment or two. “Tell her I called, please… as soon as she wakes up, make sure she knows I called, and I’ll be back soon. Please, Rouge…”

“I will,” she promised. “If she doesn’t wake up when I’m here, I’ll tell the next person who comes to tell her. Everyone will know to tell her.” She heard him sigh in relief.

“Thanks Rouge… I’ll call back when I’ve found something. Sonic out.”

Sonic turned off his communicator and went back to work. There were only a few more usual places for him to check for Eggman activity, then he’d head back to the city, back to Myla.

Her smile was in his head, her laugh in his ears. He thought about the many times it should have been obvious to him that he loved her… that she loved him. The time that was really sticking out to him right now was after they had teamed up against Infinite’s illusion of Metal, the original model, on the bridge.

***

“Hey, that was great!” Sonic said cheerfully. “We’re like a well oiled machine! Fighting a… well oiled machine!” Myla, kneeling on the ground, panting with exhaustion, rolled her eyes at him. He just grinned, holding out a fist to her; she smiled, bumping her own against his.

“You’re ridiculous,” she told him, carefully getting to her feet. “You know that right?” He grinned back at her as he put his hands behind his head.

“Yeah, I know.” He looked up at the sky; it was getting dark. “We should get back to base before it gets too late. I don’t know about you, but I could really go for a chili dog.”

“How you live on those is beyond me,” Myla replied as they started walking towards the base, going back through one of the various covered sections on the bridge. Sonic shrugged.

“Tails was saying it has something to do with high carbs and protein…” He stopped suddenly, looking around. “Do you hear that?” She stopped beside him, listening.

“That rumble?” He nodded, still looking around. “Yeah… where’s it coming from…”

“I don’t… Myla, look out!” He had barely managed to push her out of the way before part of the ceiling crashed down where they were standing. He’d gotten her out of harms way, but couldn’t say the same for himself; the crash made the old bridge crumble underneath him, dropping him down towards the river below. He hated that river; from the outside, it looked harmless, a nice place for a swim. So many people had learned the hard way about the powerful currents that would take them under and they’d never be seen again.

And now, he thought as he hit the water, he was going to join them.

He didn’t give up instantly; the currents were down low, if he could stay above them, he might be okay, able to get himself to a bank. The problem, Sonic knew, was that his technique had always been to get to the bottom, push himself off and up to the surface. If he managed to get to the bottom, he’d never get back through the current to safety. He could feel his chest tightening; he wasn’t going to be able to hold his breath much longer.

It’s hard to hear underwater; he and Tails had agreed on some simple hand signals for when they needed to communicate, but occasionally you could hear the sound of a badnik coming at you or some nearby air bubbles. Right now though, he could have sworn he heard something else hit the water. He looked towards the surface that continued to be just out of reach; something had hit the water and it was coming towards him.

“Myla?!” He regretted shouting her name the moment he did it, water rushing into his mouth. She was swimming towards him at a speed he didn’t think possible without fins. She reached him in a matter seconds, putting his arms around her neck before grabbing around his waist with one arm. She looked him in the eye, her expression saying one thing: Hang on. Sonic held tight to her as she shot the grappling hook on her wispon towards the surface. It felt like hours before it latched on to something and they started soaring through the water.

Sonic could feel the current trying to stop them and just hoped Myla could hang on to him and her wispon. If she couldn’t… he could let go. He could let go, she could get to the surface, she’d be safe… he felt her arm squeeze him tighter. She looked at him, her face once again giving him a very clear message: don’t even think about it.

They burst through the surface a moment later, Myla still clinging to him as they landed on the bank, him lying on top of her. He could feel her heart racing, hear her coughing, gasping for air…

“How… do you not know… how to swim?!” She looked at him, a manic, frustrated smile on her face. “You end up in the water constantly, how do you not know how to swim yet?!”

“Hey,” he protested. “Knowing how to swim means nothing in that river, the currents are strong!” She rolled her eyes.

“Excuses, excuses…” Sonic rolled off of her and laid on the ground next to her, one of his hands barely touching hers. “The moment this is over,” she informed him. “I am teaching you how to swim.”

“Oh really?”

“Really; we’ll get you some floaties, maybe a life jacket…”

“Now you’re just mocking me.”

“Me?” She turned her head towards him, batting her eyelashes. “Mock? I would never.” He started to laugh, feeling himself relax when she joined in. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” He wasn’t sure why, but he placed his hand on top of hers, laced their fingers together and squeezed. “Thanks for coming after me.” He listened to her chuckle, feeling her squeeze his hand.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t?”

“No… still, you saved me…”

“You saved me first.” He groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Why do you keep saying that?” She shrugged, still smiling a little.

“Because it keeps being true.”

***

That day really should have been when Sonic figured it out. He and Myla walked together, hand in hand, back to base like the world wasn’t falling apart around them. They talked about everything but the war; food, books, video games, music… that was the first time Myla told him that she played the guitar and used to sing. The entire walk back to the base, he was looking at her. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

How much time had he lost by not realizing sooner how much he cared for her… by not realizing he loved her?

Sonic shook his head; he couldn’t dwell on that. He knew now, and that was what was important. Once this was over, and he had apologized to Myla, they could move on. He tried not to think about the possibility that she didn’t feel the same way. If that was true… he would still be her friend. No matter what happened, Myla would still be his friend.

***

Rouge smiled a little, shaking her head as she got to her feet and walked over to Myla’s bed. As far as she knew, the young hedgehog hadn’t woke up since the doctors got her settled and gave her something to help her sleep. She had an oxygen mask over her face, making it easier for her to breathe with her bruised lung, and an IV in her arm. Rouge couldn’t believe she’d lived for so long on just raw mushrooms; the moment she had found out about that, she’d planned to bake Myla the best cake she’d ever had.

Well… she’d get Amy to bake Myla the best cake she’d ever had.

The heart rate monitor showed a steady beat, which was the most important thing. Plans were being made to get her heart fixed as soon as she was well enough to go through the surgery. Everyone hoped that by the time that was possible, Myla would know how much they all wanted her to stay.

“Myla,” she said softly, leaning down to speak right into her ear. “Myla, Sonic just called… he’s out trying to find Eggman’s base right now, but he wanted me to let you know that he’ll be back as soon as he can. Okay?”

It was impossible not to notice how Myla’s heart rate went up at the mention of Sonic’s name and stayed there through the end of his message. More telling to Rouge, though, was the small smile that appeared on Myla’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “You and Me” - Lifehouse
> 
> https://youtu.be/ac3HkriqdGQ


	13. This Is Where The Bad Guy Wins

Doctor Eggman would have liked to think that he was a patient man. It wasn’t true, of course, but he would have liked to think it.

“You should have had her back here by now!” He yelled at Metal through the video communicator he had installed in the robot before sending it out after the girl. Truth be told, he was very proud of this model; completely indistinguishable from the real Sonic unless it wanted to be, parts connected to the torso buy powerful magnets to ensure if he came apart, he could literally snap back together. He didn’t want to say this Metal was perfect, but it was close.

Unfortunately it was still based off of Sonic the Hedgehog.

***

Eggman looked over his formula once again, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. If this worked, he would finally have a leg up on Sonic the Hedgehog. All he needed was for the blasted hedgehog to hold still for about sixty seconds.

Getting what he wanted had been surprisingly easier than Eggman had expected; he had a few badniks capture Tails while Sonic was out doing something else, sent him a note telling him to come to an abandoned factory or else Tails would die, and had Tails waiting, trapped inside a cage on a conveyor belt that, if turned on, would have the fox heading towards a series of crushers.

“Sonic!” Tails yelled. “Sonic, run, it’s a trap!” Eggman had purposely waiting until after Tails spoke to set off the trap; a force field went up around Sonic, barely bigger than he was. The slightest touch would send a shock through him, which Sonic found out very quickly. The scanner came down shortly after and took everything it could get. Brain scan, DNA, the exact color of blue on the hedgehog’s quills… he got it all and put it into his Metal Sonic.

That may have been a mistake.

The idea was to have a robot that would be able to think like Sonic, react to his movements, maybe even predict them. The problem with that was that it also worked in reverse; Sonic could react to Metal’s movements, predict his movements. It created a stalemate between the two, one that should have been broken by the fact that robots don’t get tired. He didn’t take into account that Tails being in danger would change everything.

The conveyor belt wasn’t on, the crushers weren’t running. It was a show, an intimidation tactic; Eggman didn’t even think the old machine still worked, not until Metal threw Sonic into the start button and the machine hummed to life. It was ancient, it was loud and it was slow, but it worked. Eggman watched from his lookout point as the young fox tried to shake his prison off the conveyor belt, his tails working overtime trying to move. Eggman couldn’t lift that cage, he’d had badniks move it for him… even with as slow as the belt was moving, there was no way Tails would get himself free before he got to a crusher.

Sonic and Metal were still battling as Tails got closer to the crusher. Every time Sonic would try to make a move to save him, Metal would intercept him, moving him farther and father away from the machine. Tails was visibly exhausted, bracing himself against the bars of the cage as his tails whirled slowly. Eggman’s hand hovered over the failsafe he had installed; a powerful EMP that would have killed everything electronic inside the building and probably everywhere else in a five mile radius. That would have included Metal. There was no telling how much work would be destroyed, how much programming he’d have to redo…

Killing Sonic would be part of the war between the two of them; killing Tails, a child… was murder.

Doctor Eggman was so many things; a genius, cruel and cunning… he wasn’t a murderer. He waited for the right moment, when Sonic threw Metal into something electrical, to throw the switch, screaming that Sonic had activated his failsafe. Metal collapsed to the floor, lifeless. The crusher slowed to a stop less than a foot above the cage. Sonic wasted no time in charging a spin dash and attacking the cage, slicing it in half. Tails was curled up in a corner, clearly thinking he was going to die; Sonic grabbed him, held him close and got out of there.

Eggman waited until they were gone before going and collecting Metal. He still had the scans he’d taken of Sonic, having wirelessly backed that up that information to an external drive back at his base. His hypothesis was sound; a robot like Metal had plenty of potential. He just needed some tinkering. Someday, Metal would outclass Sonic in every way; all he had to do was keep working.

***

“We did not anticipate Sonic the Hedgehog being with her, Doctor,” the present day Metal Sonic said. “The plan was to capture her alone; having him around complicates matters. Observe.”

A video recording from Metal’s point of view started to play; an illusion of Infinite beating Sonic into the ground. Infinite threw an energy ball at Sonic that should have finished him; the girl hedgehog was suddenly in front of him, taking it directly to the chest with barely a flinch. Infinite charged another ball, throwing at her, only to have it punched into oblivion. The girl and Infinite battled for a bit before Metal went after Sonic, actively keeping him away from her and Infinite. He eventually manipulated Sonic so the recording could focus once again on the girl, whom Infinite hand slammed into the ground. He threw another energy ball at her once she was on her feet; she caught it, enlarged it and threw back at him, after which it slammed into Metal.

“As you can see, Doctor,” Metal said as the video continued to play; the girl doubled over, Sonic rushing to her side. “Myla is only in control of the ruby’s powers under extreme, emotional circumstances; as soon as Sonic was out of danger, she was no longer able to use the power and again succumbed to the the taser barbs I placed on her in Hidden Palace.”

“So in order to take her, we need to get her away from Sonic. Where is she now?”

“I have not located her yet, but I’m sure Sonic would have taken her to the City; Tails will probably be able to remove the barbs from her, and she will likely require medical attention for various reasons. Sonic will not waste time in getting her the help she needs.”

“How can you be so sure?” Eggman knew the answer of course, but he firmly believed there was no such thing as too much information. Metal grinned at him.

“Because I know everything about Sonic the Hedgehog, Doctor. Even things he may not have figured out himself. He is in love with Myla, and he will not allow her to come to harm if her can help it.” Eggman started to chuckle.

“In love, eh… interesting…” Eggman looked thoughtful for a moment. “Find her and bring her here, Metal. Use whatever means you deem necessary. Let’s see how Sonic reacts if the girl doesn’t survive the extraction.”

“Does she has to be killed?” Metal’s question surprised Eggman.

“She doesn’t have to be,” he admitted. “But I can’t say for certain that she won’t be. It really all depends on what she can endure.”

“What will be done with her if she survives?”

“What does it matter? Your job is to bring her here, nothing more.”

“…yes Doctor.”

The screen went black. Eggman frowned; this was a complication he had not anticipated. Metal was made using Sonic’s bio scan. The scans were older, but it seemed that they had updated somehow, perhaps through Metal’s recent contact with Sonic. In short, it appeared to Eggman that Sonic wasn’t the only one in love with this girl… what had Metal called her? Myla, that was it… she was turning out to be an entirely different sort of problem than he’d originally thought she’d be.

No matter; once the power within her was extracted and placed into Metal, he would be unstoppable. And if the girl survived… well, he could always use something to keep Metal in line. He may not have been a murderer, but there were plenty of other ways to get what he wanted while keeping someone alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Bad Guy” - 3OH!3
> 
> https://youtu.be/2lX6p3gDTNg
> 
> We’re about halfway through the story! I finished writing it over the weekend, but will continue posting a chapter a day until it’s done. Thanks to everyone who’s stuck around for this; writing it has been great for me and I’m so happy to see other people enjoying it!


	14. Broken Soul

“Sonic to Rouge.”

“Knuckles here, Sonic; Rouge is off duty for the night.”

“How’s Myla doing?” Knuckles looked over at her; he had thought he’d seen her open her eyes once or twice over the past few days, but right now?

“Still asleep,” Knuckles admitted. “But that’s actually been good for her recovery; the doctors say a lot of her injuries are healing quicker than normal, possibly due to the ruby’s power.” He heard Sonic sigh in relief, which brought a smile to his face. Rouge had said Sonic seemed to have gotten himself straightened out, Knuckles was glad to hear it for himself.

“Okay, tell her I called when she wakes up… I found some of those sunflowers she loves, I’m hoping to grab some on the way back…”

“Sounds good; how goes the search?”

“Still on going. He’s not at any of his old bases for once, though I can’t launch myself into space to be one hundred percent certain… there’s one or two more places I want to check, then I’ll come back.”

“Where are you thinking?”

“I’m going to head back to Angel Island; I think it’s still grounded, he might be taking advantage of that.”

“Good plan. Let me know what you find.”

“You got it; Sonic out.” Sonic stretched his arms up over his head, looking out towards Angel Island. He didn’t think Eggman would have returned to the old Launch Base, but it needed checking out anyway. He also wanted to look at Hydrocity; Eggman hadn’t set up a real base there before, but it seemed like an ideal place for him, being that it was underwater and covered in spikes.

That was just cheating at this point.

Sonic charged up a peel out and sped off towards Angel Island; two more places to check, then he could go home to Myla.

***

“How are you doing, Myla?” Tikal asked. They were on a beach this time, sitting near the water, looking at a setting sun.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I heard the doctors say I probably should have died… all that saved me was the ruby’s power. They found out about my heart condition…”

“And you’re upset about this?”

“I… don’t want to talk about it. Is that okay?” Tikal nodded. “Thank you…”

“Of course. What do you want to talk about?” Myla sighed. She picked up a flat stone that was suddenly next to her and threw it towards the water. They weren’t by a beach anymore, although there was still a sunset; it was a river, moving slow and steady, and the rock she threw skipped along the surface. Man, dreams were weird.

“I used the ruby’s power after I saw you last… I saved Sonic…”

“You don’t seem happy about that…” Myla closed her eyes

A replay of those events had been running through Myla’s head since they happened. She saw Sonic, defenseless on the ground; she saw Infinite, floating high above him, ready to throw an energy ball at him. She heard her own voice scream no, followed by that sound; the sound of Infinite summoning something else, or changing reality… but it wasn’t right, was it? The sound was higher… somehow less terrifying…

That’s when Myla realized nothing was moving; Infinite was holding the orb above his head, mid-throw, Sonic’s hand was halfway to his face as he tried to shield himself, Metal was… just standing there. Being a creeper. She was using the ruby, somehow. Like how Infinite used it, she changed the reality around everyone to suit her needs; Myla had frozen it for everyone but her.

She moved as fast as her injuries would let her, getting in front of Sonic just as the rest of the world started moving again. She was still trying to process what she’d just done when the energy ball slammed into her. How she stayed standing was beyond her. She heard Sonic’s voice behind her, prompting her to look over her shoulder at him. He hadn’t been hit. He was safe. He wasn’t going to stay safe if she didn’t do something about Infinite.

She turned back to Infinite just in time for him to throw another orb at her. She didn’t think she could take another hit. She didn’t know why she decided to punch the ball, but she heard the sound again, her sound, as her fist collided with the ball, shattering it. She didn’t know that was possible… she wondered, as Infinite flew towards her, what else was possible.

Infinite bantered with her, taunting her. He would attack, she would dodge; she would occasionally get a hit on him, but was mostly trying to keep him from hitting her. She slipped up eventually, letting him get behind her and grab hold.

“You can’t control these powers, can you?” Infinite gripped her tighter as she struggled. It hurt way more than it should. “Something is helping you…”

“Infinite!” Both Infinite and Myla looked down, seeing Sonic in a fighting stance, ready to attack. “Let her go!” Before he could do anything, Metal slammed into him, sending him flying.

“Sonic!” Myla yelled. She needed to get down there, needed to help him…

“Oh, is that it? Your desire to protect him… is that love, child? How sweet…” He started to chuckle, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Would he be able to return your love if he knew how you abandoned all those people to their deaths?”

Myla’s blood ran cold as she looked down at Sonic, who was still trying to get past Metal. Still trying to help her… there’s no way he would want her around if he knew the truth…

Everything after that was a blur; Infinite threw her to the ground, threw another energy ball at her. She… she caught it somehow. She caught it, made it bigger and threw it right back. It slammed into Infinite, destroying him on contact. It was an illusion. Thankfully. She heard the ball hit something else and saw Metal explode into pieces; had she done that?

“Myla?” She blinked a couple times; how long had she just been standing there? She couldn’t move again, those shocks were back… “Buddy? Are you okay?” She remembered shaking her head and collapsing. She remembered him catching her, holding her close as she tried to use the ruby’s power once again, failing miserably. She remembered brushing off his question about what Infinite had said to her, and confirming she was still being shocked.

Most of all, she remembered Sonic getting angry and yelling at her.

“Myla?” Tikal asked worriedly, causing Myla to wonder how long she had zoned out on her.

“I’m happy that he’s safe…” she said softly. “But as soon as he was, I couldn’t control the ruby anymore.”

“You tried to?”

“Sort of?” Myla skipped another rock across the river. “As soon as I’d stopped Infinite and Metal, all the pain came back. I fell… Sonic caught me, and I tried so hard to send him home.” Tikal looked confused.

“Send him home?”

“Yeah… Infinite could teleport, and I tried to teleport Sonic back to the City…”

“Just him?” Tikal asked. Myla nodded. “Why?”

“I wanted him to be safe…” She wiped her eyes quickly. “I needed him to be safe.”

“Because you love him.” Myla nodded. “Then why wouldn’t you teleport yourself with him?”

“He… he doesn’t love me. Not like that.” The river was now frozen over. Snow was falling around them, but it wasn’t cold. “Why are you here, Tikal? Why are you trying to help me?”

“Because you need help,” Tikal replied. “Great power is a burden that not everyone is forced to carry; those who are burdened need help from anyone that can.”

“And you can help me?”

“Not in the way you might think.” Myla looked at her, confused. “I can’t show you how to use your powers, Myla… but I can sit here with you. I can sit here forever and listen to you talk.”

“Why… you don’t have to do that…”

“And that’s exactly why I am.” She placed one of her hands on top of Myla’s. “I’m in a unique position to be able to do so; Sonic helped me and my friends, the Chao and their guardian Chaos. We now live… beyond this world would be the best way to describe it. We aren’t dead, but we aren’t alive in your world either.”

“That sounds like Sonic,” Myla said softly, aware of the fond tone in her voice. Tikal squeezed her hand.

“Sonic took time to listen before he acted, and that was how he helped us…”

“So to repay him, you want to help me?”

“I want to help you because you need it; repaying Sonic is merely a bonus.” Myla chuckled a little.

“I don’t know what to talk about…”

“What makes you think Sonic doesn’t love you?” Tikal asked. Myla sighed sadly.

“He was so mad at me after what happened with Infinite and Metal…”

“After you saved him? Why would he be mad?”

“I don’t know…” She took a deep breath, more to stop herself from crying than anything else. “Before I met Sonic, there was this… aching feeling. In my soul? Like something is broken… that’s the best way I can describe it. I had it my entire life, but then I met Sonic… the day I met Sonic, the feeling went away…”

“But it’s back now…” Myla nodded.

“I felt it break again. The moment he yelled at me, I felt it break, and it hurts worse now than it ever did before we met.” Myla flinched suddenly, holding her head in her hand. “Tikal, I think I’m waking up…” Tikal nodded, letting go of her hand. “I don’t want to…”

“I know, but you need to. We’ll talk again soon, I promise.”

As Tikal started to fade away, Myla was surprised how much she meant what she said, that she didn’t want to wake up. It was true though; she could handle Sonic not loving her. After all, she’d grown up in a world without love, it wouldn’t be hard… but she’d rather stay asleep forever than return to a world where her best friend hated her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Broken Soul” - Fozzy
> 
> https://youtu.be/hpqHeXlVup0


	15. Shine a Light in the Dark

After scoping out Launch Base and coming up empty, Sonic made his way to Hydrocity. Again, it was a long shot, but as soon as he cleared it, he could head back to the City. He called to check in after clearing Launch Base; Myla was still asleep, but she was doing better. Rouge told him that all of her injuries from Infinite had healed, but the heart condition was still an issue.

“So the ruby’s power was only able to heal injuries inflicted by the ruby’s power,” Sonic said. “That’s… a little disappointing.”

“Agreed,” Rouge replied. “But with her other injuries healed, Myla should be able to undergo surgery to fix the other things.”

“Good… good. She’s still asleep?”

“Yeah, sorry. All your messages are waiting for her, do you want to leave another?”

“Yeah… yeah, I do.”

Sonic left his message with Rouge, planning it on it being his last. One more check, that’s all he needed before he could head back. It’d only been a few days since he last saw Myla, but it felt so much longer. Part of him worried that she would be gone before he got back. He shook the thought out of his head as he approached the waterfall that lead to the old city. He had to believe she would wait for him…

“Myla…” he said aloud, knowing she couldn’t hear him. “Myla, wait for me… I’ll be there soon…”

***

Something was wrong. Myla wasn’t waking up like she thought was going to…

“Tikal? Are you still here?” No answer; everything was pitch black, she couldn’t even see her own hand in front of her face. She started to hear something moving around her. “Hello? Is someone there..?”

They appeared from the darkness, hundreds of them. Some looked like they were burned, others just looked injured beyond belief. Some of them carrying wispons, some just reaching out towards her as she backed away.

All of them were people she recognized. All of them were there, that day in the City.

All of them were people she left behind.

Myla turned to run, only to be met by more of them coming towards her; she was surrounded. As they closed in on her, grabbing her by her arms, her shoulders, her legs… they started to speak.

“You left us.”

“You coward.”

“How could you leave us?”

All of them were talking at once, all of them saying the same things. They were packed tightly around her; despite her struggles, she couldn’t escape. She could feel them pressing against her, feel hands around her throat, squeezing.

She had left them to die; they were going to return the favor.

“Myla…” Someone said her name… the voice… it couldn’t be…

“Sonic…” A soft blue light appeared above the mob around her, making them cringe but not back away. Some of them released their grip on her, allowing her to get her arm free and reach towards the light.

Sonic took her hand, pulling her away from the mob and into his arms, holding her close. She clung to him, shaking. She knew in her heart that this had started as a nightmare, and now was a dream come true… she wasn’t sure if she had managed to manipulate this nightmare like she had the one Metal had sent her, but after everything she’d been through, why not let herself dream, just this once…

“Myla…” she felt his hand gently cup her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. He was smiling. “Myla, wait for me… I’ll be there soon.” He started to fade. She buried her face into his chest, holding him tight.

“Don’t go… please, don’t go…”

“Wait for me… I’ll be there soon.”

***

Myla opened her eyes; she was still in bed, still in the hospital. She was still wearing the mask one of the doctors had placed on her, still had the IV she felt put into her arm earlier… she was alone this time; every other time she’d awoke, there had been someone sitting with her. She’d never stayed awake long enough to talk to them, but this time felt different. She didn’t feel like she was going to fall back to sleep right away this time.

Thank goodness… one nightmare was more than enough for her right now.

“Myla!” She jumped a little, looking over to the door. Amy was standing in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. “You’re awake! We were starting to worry, you’ve been out for a few days…”

As Amy set the book and coffee down, Myla thought about what she said. She’d been asleep for a few days. She had felt better than she had in a while… she could easily slip away now, couldn’t she? The moment Amy left again, she could take out the IV and leave, go out the window maybe…

“Oh, I’ve got some messages for you!” Amy said cheerfully, picking up a notebook that was sitting on the table. “Rouge took the first call, but there have been so many others that we started keeping a notebook.”

“Messages?” Myla said, taking the oxygen mask off of her face. Her voice sounded hoarse and tired. Almost like it belonged to another person entirely.

“Yup, from Sonic; first message is that he’s out looking for Eggman’s base, but he wanted you to know he’d be back as soon he could. Second message is that he’s still looking for the base, he hopes to find it soon and has asked for some more help in the search. Third message, he found a cool rock that he thought you would like…”

The messages went on like that; Sonic had seen something or heard something that made him think of Myla; he saw some sunflowers that she liked and was going to try to get some for her on his way back; he was still looking for the base… he was going to be back as soon as he could.

“Don’t leave before I get back,” Amy read. At some point the messages stopped being quick notes and started being full dictations, taken down by everyone who had sat with her while she was asleep. “Please wait for me, I need to talk to you. I’ve got one more place to check, then I’m heading back. I can’t wait to see you.” Amy closed the notebook and looked up at Myla. “That’s the last one, it came in yesterday morning… Myla? Are you crying…?”

Myla wasn’t aware she’d been crying until Amy pointed it out. These weren’t simple notes from someone checking in; they were from someone who cared for her. Sonic may not love her the same way she loved him, but she couldn’t leave like this, without talking to him.

“Are you hurt?” Amy asked worriedly. “Is it your chest, the doctors said that should be all healed…” Myla shook her head, sitting up carefully. Her chest didn’t ache with every breath, her skin didn’t feel like it was on fire...

“No, I’m not hurt,” she said with a smile. “I feel a lot better… I’m really hungry though.” Amy smiled, nodding eagerly.

“Of course! I’ll get Doctor Zell to come check on you, she’ll probably want to start you on some broth or something…”

“No mushrooms?” Myla asked. “Please…?” Amy laughed.

“No mushrooms, promise. I’ll be right back!” Myla watched her leave before reaching over and picking up the notebook, reading her messages from Sonic again. He’d be back soon. He promised he would be back soon, and they could talk then.

She wasn’t going to run; not this time.

***

Hydrocity was just as awful as Sonic remembered; full of water, covered in spikes. The sunken city was lovely of course, he’d always admired the colors and architecture…

The small partially-aquatic Death Egg was definitely new.

“Bingo.” Sonic stayed out of sight, pondering his next move; the Death Egg looked active, there were flashy lights around the outside, and he could see Badniks coming in and out. This one was definitely smaller than anything Eggman had built before. A temporary base maybe… still, it would be worth taking out, regardless of what it was being used it for. He got to his feet, and turned to head out. Once he got back to the City, he could regroup with everyone, come up with a plan. More importantly, he could talk to Myla.

He saw something move out of the corner of his eye; when he turned to get a better look, there was nothing there. He started walking backwards towards the way he’d come in, feeling uneasy. Something had spotted him; he had to get out before they called for backup.

*click*

Sonic went stiff when he heard the click. He looked down and saw a switch under his foot that he somehow hadn’t triggered before. The floor suddenly gave out underneath him, dropping him down one of the many slides that looped through out the city. The water was freezing. Sonic tried to grasp the sides of the slide to stop himself, but it was covered with algae and he couldn’t get a grip. Within seconds, he was completely submerged in the water around the Death Egg. This was fine, perfectly fine, he just had to get out of the water before anything else…

“What kept you?”

Sonic didn’t bother trying to see where Metal was, he just put everything he had into reaching the surface. It didn’t take long for the robot to overtake him, grabbing hold and pulling him into a tight embrace… the same embrace Metal had used on Myla. As he struggled, he knew he was running out of time, he wouldn’t be able to hold his breath much longer.

“Don’t worry, Sonic,” Metal said. “I need you alive for when my Myla gets here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Unity” - Shinedown (I really like Shinedown, not sorry)
> 
> https://youtu.be/_gVdi6sizeY


	16. Lead a Heart to Love

Myla ate her broth slowly, as instructed. It was bland, but filling somehow and she wasn’t going to argue. It was so, so much better than mushrooms.

“Once we know you can keep that down, we’ll move on to something more solid,” Doctor Zell had told her while she removed the IV from Myla’s arm; she was able to eat on her own now, there was no need to leave it in.. “We’ll run some tests later today; if they look good, you can go home.”

“Where will you go?” Amy asked. She’d been so quite while the doctor had been there that Myla had honestly forgotten she was there too.

“I’ll stick around here,” Myla said after she finished up her broth. “I have to wait for Sonic to come back at least…”

“Yes, but where will you stay? Are you going to head home?” Myla sighed sadly; she’d hoped no one would ask that. She wasn’t good at lying.

“I don’t really have a home…”

“You don’t..? But… where were you staying during the war?”

“Anywhere I could find at first, then Sonic and I ended up camping between missions… sometimes I’d stay at the orphanage, but I doubt it’s still standing now… not that I really want to go back there.”

“Tails pulled up your records,” Amy admitted. “You were there a long time.”

“Yeah… I don’t know how I got there? I was just… there one day. I can’t remember not being there.”

“I’m sorry… you don’t sound like you were happy there.”

“It wasn’t a bad place. I mean, I had a bed, food, they took care of me when I was hurt or sick… but that was it. No one ever really got to know me, but I never got to know anyone else either. What was the point, they’d all be gone eventually and I’d never see them again…” She shook her head. “No, I honestly can’t say I was happy there…”

“Why were you there for so long?” Amy asked. “I mean, surely someone must have wanted to adopt you…”

“That’s what I thought too… I thought that every single day, when I’d see another kid get to home with a new family. I’d go in and talk to people sometimes, but I never went with any of them.” She wiped her eyes quickly. “Then one day, when I was ten, I talked to this one family… the Carlisles; they had a son and a daughter a little older than me, and they were so nice. I really thought I was going to get to go home with them. After we got done talking, Mr. Miller, one of the people that worked at the orphanage, told me to go out and play. I left the room, closed the door behind me… but I stayed and listened… and Mr. Miller told them that I had a heart condition. I’d always had it, and they couldn’t promise that I wouldn’t need surgery for it someday. The Carlisles didn’t want me after that.” Amy looked horrified.

“Oh Myla…”

“I actually got into the orphanage’s computer later that day and pulled up my records… I didn’t know about this heart condition they said I had, no one ever told me… and I decided no one else was going to know either. I put a password on the file… I was ten, so it was something stupid like 12345.” She chuckled a little, wiping her eyes again. “I really thought that if no one knew about my heart condition, then someone would finally want me…”

“That’s not fair,” Amy said, wiping away her own tears. “You couldn’t help that you had a heart condition…” Myla shrugged a little before taking a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She seemed to have stopped crying; Amy wished she could say the same about herself.

“There’s this old song I used to hear,” she said after a moment. “I don’t remember the name, but part of the chorus was “you can lead a heart to love, but you can’t make it fall”…” She looked up at Amy, a sad smile on her face. “I couldn’t make any of the families I met love me in spite of me being broken… so I stopped trying.”

“What do you mean?”

“There were a few more families that came by after the Carlisles; I thought now that the record was locked, no one would know that I was broken and someone would finally want me. But each one said no in the end, and eventually I just… I would go into meet people and wouldn’t talk. I’d nod or shake my head, but that was it. What was the point? Someone would tell them I was broken and they wouldn’t want me either. The staff would get angry and yell at me about it, and I stopped talking to them too. Eventually, they weren’t having me meet people, and I started being away from there as much as possible. I think I was coming back to sleep and that was it…”

“What did you do? When you weren’t there, I mean.”

“Odd jobs, mostly. People would pay well for someone like me to do stuff other people wouldn’t do.”

“Someone like you..?”

“Someone they could pay under the table… someone expendable…” Amy looked horrified, so Myla moved on. “Occasionally, I sang on the street with my guitar and people would give me spare change. I lost the guitar at some point during the war… but I saved up every cent I got, it’s stashed away… somewhere. Maybe someone who needed it found it by now…”

Amy took her hand suddenly, squeezing lightly. Myla flinched, mostly out of surprise than anything else. She wasn’t used to people touching her without warning.

“You’re not going back to the orphanage,” Amy said firmly. “We have plenty of rooms back at the base…” Myla blinked, confused.

“Why… why would you do that for me..?” Amy squeezed her hand again, smiling.

“Because we’re friends, Myla; that’s what friends do.”

Someone cleared their throat; Myla and Amy looked over to the doorway and saw Knuckles standing there. He had something in his hand… and looked upset.

“Hey Knuckles,” Myla said, nervously. “Is something wrong..?” He nodded a little, keeping his head down as he walked over to her, offering the item he was holding. It looked like a small video player; someone could record a short video and play it back automatically as a hologram. This one had an inscription on the cover; her name, written in cursive, with a small heart underneath.

“That arrived at base about ten minutes ago,” he said, his voice serious. “One of Eggman’s Buzzers dropped it off… Tails checked it to make sure it’s not a bomb or anything…” He looked Myla in the eye. “It’s not good.”

Myla felt like she was going to be sick. She didn’t recognize the handwriting, but she had a feeling she knew who sent it. She lifted up the cover and pushed play; a hologram of Metal Sonic appeared. He was in a room made of colorful bricks, mostly gold but also some purple and green.

“Hello my love; I have something to show you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “You Can’t Make a Heart Love Somebody” - George Strait
> 
> https://youtu.be/qUwDZnvuUtM
> 
> Y’all wanted some Myla backstory, right?


	17. This Life You’ll One Day Fear

From his hidden base in Hydrocity, Metal knew that it would only be a matter of time before Sonic came to him. Doctor Eggman, who was giving orders from his Death Egg among the stars, had commanded that he capture Myla first, but as long as Sonic was still alive, there was a chance she would be able to best them. Sonic was the source of her power; her love for him allowed her control of the Phantom Ruby energy inside of her, though he was sure she didn’t yet know that. And as he expected, his counterpart’s love for Myla led him right into Metal’s grasp

Metal would have his Myla soon enough. A smirk came across his face; how much would it torment Sonic if he were to take Myla for his own?

One way to find out.

***

Sonic woke up chained to a wall, his wrists above his head, his feet barely touching the floor, and it took what little energy he had not to panic. Memories of being held on the Death Egg flashed through his mind; six months of physical and mental torture that he did his best to repress. He would never tell anyone now, but he still had nightmares about it. He might tell Myla…

Myla. He promised her that he’d be back soon… How long had he been here…

“Hello, my love,” he heard his own, robotically twisted voice say. He raised his head up slightly; Metal was standing directly in front of him, facing away. “I have something to show you.” With a theatrical flourish, Metal stepped aside; there was a surveillance badnik floating in front of him. It looked like it was recording.

“Seriously?” Sonic said, trying to look more annoyed than worried. “This is what we’re doing now?”

“As you can see, my Myla,” Metal continued. “Your precious hero is a bit… tied up right now.” Sonic rolled his eyes so hard, he worried about long term damage. “If you ever want to see him again, you will come, alone, to Hydrocity…”

“Hydrocity,” Sonic cut in. He saw Metal twitch slightly before turning to him.

“Hydrocity.”

“Ugh, you sound like such a jerk when you say it like tha-“

The shackles around his wrists were electrified; that was fun finding out.

“As I was saying, lovely,” Metal continued. Sonic hated, _hated_ that he kept saying things like that to her. “If you ever want to see him again, you will come to Hydrocity. Once you give yourself up, the doctor and I will set him free.”

“Myla, don’t listen to him!” Sonic yelled, looking directly in the camera. “He’s not going to let me go, don’t c-“ He felt the electricity course though him again, his entire body going limp when it stopped.

“Better hurry, my dear,” Metal said in a cruel, sing-song voice. He grabbed Sonic on the top of his head and lifted his face to look directly at the camera bot. “He might survive another shock or two… but will he survive learning that dark secret of yours?”

Sonic’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Metal. That was too far; no one was going to guilt her about that. Never again. He drew one of his feet back and slammed it into Metal’s chest with everything he had, sending him flying.

“Myla, listen to me!” He hesitated a moment, not wanting to hurt her more. “I already know what happened! In the City, with Infinite… you had a nightmare about it, you told me everything; you said you thought I would hate you for it…” He smiled. “I will never hate you for that, Myla… I love you too much to ever hate you… so please, don’t listen to hi-“

The electricity returned; it didn’t stop until long after Sonic lost consciousness.

***

Myla stared silently at the screen as the video played, tears streaming down her cheek. Knuckles considered taking the player away from her, sparing her from seeing the worst… but she needed to see Sonic’s last message. Her eyes widened in terror when Metal threatened to reveal her ‘dark secret’. She flinched a little when Sonic told her he already knew. She gasped softly when he said he loved her. She closed her eyes, looking away from the screen when Sonic was shocked once again. Amy, who had been standing beside Myla’s bed during all of this, put a hand on her shoulder.

“Better hurry, little soldier,” Metal said, remaining off screen as Sonic’s torture continued. “Maybe he’ll still be alive when you get here.”

The video ended there; Myla still had her eyes closed, was still shaking. Her hands were clenching the video player so hard, Knuckles thought she was going to snap it.

“I need to get out of here,” she said, her voice shaking. It wasn’t from sadness though… it was anger.

“Myla, you can’t go after him alone,” Amy began.

“No. You don’t understand. I need to get out of here.” As the heart rate monitor started to go berserk, Knuckles heard the sound. Infinite’s reality warp sound, slightly different, just as terrifying. Myla’s eyes opened; they were blood red. “I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

Knuckles acted fast. He disconnected the monitor and scooped Myla into his arms, diving out the window with her and gliding off. There were still parts of the city that were condemned, restricted zones unfit for habitation. He just had to get her there.

“Throw me,” Myla said urgently.

“Are you crazy?!”

“I can’t control this, Knuckles! Throw me before it’s too late!”

Sonic was going to kill him if he ever found out about this.

Knuckles adjusted his grip on her and launched her like a javelin before gliding to a building and digging his claws in, holding on while he watched her fly. She kept her hands at her side, her legs together, soaring through the sky like a rocket. She had just barely crossed over into the restricted zone when it happened; Knuckles watched as Myla curled herself into a ball, Infinite’s… no. Her own energy balls forming around her, the light radiating off of them engulfing her completely. With an ear shattering scream, she let loose, throwing the balls into what was left of an old skyscraper. The contact shook the building Knuckles was holding onto, almost shaking him off.

“Myla?!” Knuckles pushed off the building and started gliding over where he’d last seen her, looking down at the ground, expecting her to have fallen before the blast hit. She was nowhere in sight… she… she wasn’t… no, she couldn’t be gone…

“I’m here…” Knuckles looked up, his eyes wide. Myla was still in the air, floating. She had a slight glow to her; not like his super form, she wasn’t changing colors… she just… glowed.

“Are you alright?” She nodded a little, looking down at the carnage below.

“I… please come here, I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this.” Knuckles hurried over to her, taking her hand, ready to hold her if she started to fall. “He said he loved me…”

“Yeah, he did,” Knuckles agreed. “I think if he’d realized it before, he would have said it a long time ago…” She smiled a little.

“I think I figured it out… the ruby’s power, I mean…”

“Oh?”

“Infinite wanted power, chaos… destruction…” Knuckles nodded, gliding with her over to a roof top and landing carefully. They sat down on the edge of the building, watching the sun set in the distance.

“But you don’t.” She shook her head.

“No, I’ve never wanted that… I always wanted friends… family. I never had that before I met Sonic… before I met all of you.” She looked at her hands, watching the glow flicker slowly. “I think I knew, deep down, that you all thought of me as a friend… but it wasn’t enough? I wish it had been, everything might have been easier…” Knuckles nodded.

“I can understand that feeling,” he said. “Wanting your friends to be enough, to not need any more than that… thinking you’ll never find anything more. However…” He turned to her and grinned. “There’s a difference between your friends, even your best friend, and the person you love more than anyone.” She smiled a little.

“We have to go save him,” she said, raising her hand towards the restricted zone. Knuckles watched in awe as pieces of debris started floating in the air, unsteadily, before stacking into piles.

“We do… but we need a plan.” Myla nodded, looking at the piles she made, thoughtfully.

“Metal thinks I can’t control the ruby’s power… that’s going to be an advantage for us.”

“What do you want to do?”

“First, I want to get cleaned up.” She grinned at him, sheepishly. “I’m sure I look awful right now… and I’m still hungry, maybe Doc will let me eat something besides broth…” She got to her feet, stretching, Knuckles doing the same.

“While you’re getting cleaned up, I’ll start looking at maps of Hydrocity…”

“I can’t believe Metal pronounces it Hydrocity, he really does sound like a jerk.” Knuckles laughed.

“Anyway, we should be able to find a way to sneak in, get him, wreck everything on the way out…” She nodded.

“I might have another idea… but I need to try something first…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Life is Good” - Flogging Molly
> 
> https://youtu.be/98prxewpcow
> 
> Note: There is some disagreement in the Sonic Speedrunning Community as to whether Hydrocity is pronounced “Hydro City” or “Hydrossity”. For my own personal amusement, I have not specified who says it which way.


	18. Leave Out All The Rest

Much to Myla’s delight, Doctor Zell wasn’t too upset that she’d essentially broken out of her room, being that it was for the sake of everyone currently inside the hospital, but she did make Myla sit through a chest x-ray to check on her heart.

“I know there’s no sense in ordering you on bedrest right now,” she said while she was looking at the results. “But you won’t be able to put this off much longer; you need to get this taken care of.”

“Has it gotten bigger?”

“No, thankfully, but that doesn’t mean it won’t.” Myla nodded.

“Doc, I promise, the moment this is all over, I will schedule an appointment.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Until then, you’re free to go.”

***

“Myla!” Amy was waiting at Myla’s hospital room when she returned, waving at her as she approached. “I heard that you’d be able to leave the hospital, I’m here to take you back to base.” She held up a few pamphlets. “One of the nurses gave me these; information on food that’ll be safe for you to eat, some breathing exercises to help your lungs…”

“Please tell me I can eat a taco or something,” Myla replied, a cartoonish pleading look on her face that made Amy laugh. She was also relieved. This was the Myla that Amy had known, albeit briefly, during the war; warm, quick with a joke… not the tired, sickly person Sonic had brought back from Angel Island. Rouge had mentioned she might have PTSD, which after reading up on it, Amy thought was a good assessment… but now that she was back here, with her friends, she seemed much better. Amy hoped that was a trend that would continue.

“I haven’t looked through it all yet,” Amy admitted, “but whatever it is, it won’t be mushrooms.” Myla laughed.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever eat another mushroom again.”

“I don’t blame you… oh, Knuckles said you wanted to get cleaned up; Rouge found you something to wear so we can get your clothes washed.” Myla looked down at what was left of her shirt.

“I don’t know if washing will help this old thing, I’ve had it for years… my shoes are pretty much shot at this point.” Amy nodded.

“We’ll see what we can do.”

The resistance base hadn’t changed much since Myla was there last. The situation room was still filled with computers, people were rushing around, getting things done… only now, it was rebuilding the world, not trying to save it from destruction. People said hi to her as she passed by with Amy; she wondered if maybe she should have cleaned up at the hospital instead of waiting until now…

“Here we are!” Amy said cheerfully, stopping in front of a door down the hall from the situation room. She handed Myla a key, grinning. “Go on, open it up. See what you think.” Myla took the key from her, just holding it in her hand a moment before using it in the lock and opening the door.

“Oh… oh my…” The room was painted a pale purple; the wood floor was old and scuffed, covered in the center by a sunflower print rug. On one wall was a couch, a coffee table in front of it. Across from that was a small TV on a table. By the main door was a small kitchen with a sink, a fridge and a small stove.

“We started turning the unused storage rooms into little apartments,” Amy said. “A lot of people needed a place to stay while their homes were rebuilt… there’s a bathroom there…” She pointed to a door near the couch, then to another off the kitchen. “And there’s the bedroom.”

“…all of this is for me?”

“Yeah… is it okay…” Amy gasped in surprise as Myla wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tight. After a moment, Amy hugged back. “There’s one more thing, in the bedroom… you mentioned you used to play the guitar…” Myla blinked a few times before heading in; there was a bed in the upper left hand corner, a side table next to it, a closet on the back wall… and right by the door was an old acoustic guitar.

“Oh wow…” She ran her fingers over it, just taking the whole thing in. The body was varnished a light brown, the neck a deep red. The pick guard and pegs were black, reminding Myla of obsidian. “It’s beautiful…”

“Rouge found it lying around the base one day,” Amy said with a smile. “It’s just been gathering dust… Tails cleaned it up for you.”

“Thank you…” She picked it up and gave it a strum; it was out of tune, but that was easily fixed.

“I’ll let you get settled,” Amy continued. “There’s some clothes in the closet, they should fit you okay. We’re planning to meet in the situation room in about three hours, try to get a plan formed to rescue Sonic.”

“I’ll be there… I might have an idea, if I can get it to work.”

“Okay. See you then.” After Amy left, Myla went to clean up. She probably spent the better part of an hour just cleaning herself up. She’d washed up in a few creeks and rivers while she’d been out on her own, but there was nothing like a hot shower. She washed her hair, realizing now how long it had gotten. She could probably pull it up into pigtails if she wanted.

Once she was clean and wrapped in a towel, she went to her closet to see what was there for clothes. How long had it been since she’d worn something new? Two, three years maybe? She bought her old tie dye with her own money, and she honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if it ended up disintegrating in the laundry. The stuff in her closet very casual… someone had found a tie dye shirt very similar to the one she always wore and Myla really appreciated that; she wasn’t ready to change too much just yet.

And there was a new pair of sneakers. If not for everything else going on, this would possibly be the best day ever.

There was still a while until the meeting. Myla knew she should try rest a bit; she was tired, it had been a day… a short nap wasn’t uncalled for. But there was something she needed to try first.

***

Everything hurt.

After the video had been recorded, Sonic found himself alone, still chained to the wall. Every time he tried to struggle, the chains would shock him until he couldn’t struggle anymore. He had to get out of there, before Myla came and gave herself up. Eggman and Metal wouldn’t let him go once they had her and he knew it.

She probably knew it too, but would still come after him. He had no doubt about that.

He didn’t remember falling asleep, though it didn’t surprise him. He was exhausted, and it wasn’t like he had much else to do. But he wasn’t chained up right now, so clearly he was dreaming. That also explained the guitar music… why was he hearing guitar music?

He found himself following the music, slowly. He wasn’t able to run here, which made him wonder if this was going to end up being a nightmare. As the music got louder, he began to see an outline of a figure. They were sitting on the ground, the guitar in their lap as they played. As he got closer, he could hear them singing.

“When my time comes, forget the wrong that I’ve done; help me leave behind some reasons to be missed. Don’t resent me, and when you’re feeling empty, keep me in your memory and leave out all the rest… leave out all the rest…” He’d never heard this voice sing before, but he still knew exactly who it was.

“Myla?” The figure looked up at him; it was her. She looked so much better than when he’d handed her off to Shadow back in the City. She didn’t look sick anymore, didn’t look like she was in pain. That shining starlight was around her again, and she was smiling… she had sunflowers in her hair. He never got to grab her some…

“Hey you,” she said as she set her guitar down and got to her feet. He ran over to her and hugged her, feeling her arms around him, her chin resting on his shoulder…

“This is just a dream,” he replied sadly.

“Is that so bad?”

“No… but…” Myla looked up at him, still smiling. She put her hand on his cheek, like she had done at Hidden Palace. He again leaned into her touch, placing his hand over hers as if that would keep her there forever.

“Listen to me,” she said, her voice soft but confident. “No matter what happens, I want you to remember this. You and me, here. Leave out all the rest.”

“Myla…”

“Sonic, promise me… remember this, and leave out all the rest.” He opened his mouth to protest, not understanding what she meant; what was he supposed to leave out? The fact she might die trying to save him? In the end… he just nodded. “Thank you… I’ll see you soon…” To his agony, she started to fade away.

“No,” he whispered, trying to hold on to her. “Don’t go… not yet…” Her other hand came up and rested on his cheek, holding his face so he looked her in the eyes.

“Keep me in your memory… leave out all the rest.”

***

Myla walked into the situation room just as the meeting was about to get started. She was all cleaned up, wearing sunflowers in her hair that was pulled up into pigtails… she was even smiling a little. She felt good… confident.

“Myla!” Tails flew over to her, hugging her tight. “You’re feeling better? It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“I feel much better, thanks to you” she promised him, ruffling his hair. “I’ll feel perfect after we get Sonic home.”

“You said earlier you had an idea about that,” Knuckles reminded her. “Were you able to get anywhere with that?”

“Yeah… I’ve got a plan started, but I need help with details… and I’ve found someone that can help us.”

“Really?” Rouge asked. “Who’s that?” Myla looked over her shoulder.

“Hey, you wanna come in here?” There were only footsteps at first, then someone entered in the room. Everyone gasped, staring at the figure before them.

“I don’t know about the rest of you,” Knuckles said with a grin. “But I’ve got a pretty good feeling about this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Leave Out All The Rest” - Linkin Park
> 
> https://youtu.be/yZIummTz9mM
> 
> It’s 12:30am at the time of this chapter getting posted, and I sincerely hope all of you are sleeping better than I am.


	19. Invincible

Sonic awoke to explosions; it somehow wasn’t the worst way he’d ever woken up.

The dream of Myla lingered in his mind. He didn’t often remember his dreams. Nightmares, sure, but never dreams. Any dream with Myla in it couldn’t be a nightmare, no matter how it made his heart ache.

Anyway. Explosions. Explosions meant a battle was happening, that his friends were coming for him… that Myla hadn’t come here alone. He didn’t want her to have come here at all, but at least she wasn’t coming in alone.

“Hey you.” His head snapped up.

“Myla!?”

“Keep your voice down!” She hurried over to him, inspecting the shackles on his wrists. “We don’t have much time before they realize what’s happening.”

“You shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe…”

“Do you think I could pick these locks with a bobby pin?”

“Myla, I’m serious!” He felt her hands on either side of his face, holding his head still so he could look into her eyes.

“Sonic. Be mad at me later. We need to get out of here. Leave out all the rest.” His eyes widened a little. That phrase again… what did…

“Myla, look out!”

He’d barely gotten the words out when Metal appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her up against his chest.

“Hello darling,” he said with a grin. “How nice of you to join us.”

“Stop… calling me that…” Myla said, struggling with him. She let out a yell as Metal squeezed her tight and laughed.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to make demands, lovely.”

“Fine… you got me… let Sonic go…”

“Myla, no!” Sonic started struggling with his restraints… much to his surprise, he fell to the floor.

“As you wish, my love.” Still weak and unsteady, Sonic managed to get to his feet, only to have them fall out from underneath him. Another trap door, another slide down into the water. He could hear Myla screaming his name, Metal’s laughter… his own body hit the water. His limbs felt like jelly as he tried to move to the surface; it honestly seemed like the more he tried to move up, the further he sunk down. He had to get out, he had to get to Myla…

Something suddenly wrapped around his waist, stopping his descent; one of Eggman’s jellygnites had ahold of him and there were more surrounding him. Sonic hated these things, he’d always needed Tails, and Tails always needed him, to smash them if they got him in their grasp.

Tails wasn’t here. No one else was here. This was not going to end well for him.

Suddenly the jellygnites began exploding around him, as if they were getting hit by a wispon, starting with the one that had held him in its grasp. Sonic stared at where it had been in disbelief, to busy trying to figure out what just happened to realize he was sinking again. A moment later, a hand grasped his wrist, pulling him upwards. He felt something against his lips and opened his mouth. He could breathe… how… looking at the object, he realized what it was; a small oxygen tank, just enough for a short time under water. Tails had been working on one… Sonic looked over his shoulder, expecting his friend to be the one holding on to him.

Instead he was looking at Myla.

Sonic’s jaw dropped, causing him to almost lose the tank, much to her amusement as she helped him turn to face her. She was wearing some sort of belt around her hips, her wispon in one hand and… well, his hand in the other. They couldn’t talk underwater, but he did his best to convey his confusion with wide eyes and other facial expressions. She was grinning around her own oxygen tank as she holstered her wispon on the belt and held his face in her hands, looking into his eyes.

“Keep me in your memory,” her voice repeated inside his head. “Leave out all the rest.” It was then that Sonic realized that she had sunflowers in her hair.

The other Myla did not.

***

“You can control the ruby now?” Shadow asked. His demeanor was as calm as ever; internally, he was freaking out.

“It’s not an Infinite level of mastery,” Myla replied as her phantom double stood beside her, grinning. “But yes; say hello to M-2. I can’t make more than one at a time, but it should be more than enough.”

“That’s amazing!” Amy cried, coming over to look at both of them. “You can’t even tell the difference between the two of you…”

“The original’s got flowers in her hair,” Knuckles commented.

“That’s on purpose,” M-2 said. “We need Sonic to know the difference between myself and Myla.” Tails raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Dreams are another part of reality,” Myla said. “I can manipulate those to an extent. They have their own rules though, I wasn’t able to be like “hey, we’re going to be sending a double in after you”…” She sighed, seemingly a little annoyed about this fact. “But if it worked, he’ll know I’m the original.”

“So what’s the plan?” Shadow asked.

“We go in,” Myla replied. “Just raid Eggman’s base in Hydrocity, explode a few things… I don’t think they’d expect that, I honestly believe that they think I’ll show up alone.”

“During the attack,” M-2 cut in, “I’ll sneak inside and find Sonic. Best case scenario, we can get out without incident.”

“What’s the worst case scenario?” Amy asked nervously.

“What’ll probably happen,” both Mylas replied flatly.

“Metal knows Sonic can’t swim, even when he’s at the top of his game,” Myla continued. “Right now, he’s tired, possibly injured… Metal’s going to want to make him suffer right until the end.”

“So he’ll drop him in the water around the base…”

“Exactly. Tails!” Myla turned to him. “You were telling me that you started on some miniature oxygen tanks; how many do you have?”

“Two or three; how many do you need?”

“Two; one for me and one for Sonic.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Knuckles said, waving his hand in protest. “What do you mean one for you?”

“I’ll be in the water, waiting for Sonic. I’ll get him the second tank and we’ll get out.”

“Why does it have to be you?” Both Mylas crossed their arms over their chest, tilting their heads to the right. The synchronicity was uncanny.

“Because out of everyone here in this room,” Myla replied, “I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that properly knows how to swim.”

No one was able to argue with that.

“While Myla is getting Sonic to safety, I’ll hopefully be able to take care of Metal,” M-2 continued. “If not… everyone will need to be ready for him.”

“Metal is powered by the last Phantom Ruby prototype,” Myla continued. “It has to be kept in either his chest or his head, but I don’t know which… the only way to stop it is to destroy it.”

“What’ll happen when it’s destroyed?” Rouge asked.

“We come home and have tacos?” Everyone got a good laugh out of that, thankful for the break in the tense moment.

“Seriously though,” Amy cut in. “What happens when we destroy it?”

“The power will be attracted to the next most powerful source,” Tails replied.

“Which would be Myla,” M-2 added.

“Yeah…” Myla looked a little uneasy about this. “I’m going to need someone to give me warning when it gets destroyed… I don’t know what’ll happen when the transfer of power occurs; hopefully nothing, but the way my luck has been recently, we should be prepared for anything.”

“Agreed,” Shadow said. “Everyone should be wearing a communicator and be ready to let Myla know; if you take him out, you make the call.” Everyone nodded their agreement.

“Alright then,” Knuckles said. “Let’s bring Sonic home.”

***

Myla held tight to Sonic’s hand as they made their way underwater. The mini oxygen tanks worked like a dream; they could stay underwater until they got a good distance from the Death Egg. Eggman and Metal would never know that Sonic survived. Hopefully. She kept looking at Sonic, wanting to make sure he was okay. She knew how much he hated water; even with the oxygen tank, he had to be panicking a little. Each time she looked, he would squeeze her hand twice, just to let her know he was doing okay.

Soon they reached the area where Myla had entered the water; a small lake in a secluded canyon that contained an underwater cavern that lead to Hydrocity. Knuckles had known about it for years and said it would take her right into the water around the ruins. She had waited until M-2 said she had gotten into the Death Egg to get into the water; this ended up being the best idea, as the water was freezing. She knew she’d get used to it, but knew being in there too long wouldn’t be good in the long run.

She wasn’t sure how long it took her to swim through the caverns; five minutes, maybe ten tops. She tried to go as fast as she could, not wanting to arrive too late but also not wanting to wait too long; there were badniks in the water that she didn’t want alerted to her presence… but also, she didn’t want to be left alone with her thoughts for too long. What if she was wrong, what if Metal just… killed Sonic? What would happen then?

Thankfully Myla saw him hit the water about two minutes later; unfortunately, it was right in the center of a bunch of jellygnites.

Knuckles had surprised her by handing over her old wispon before they left the base. It felt good to have it in her hand again. Tails had given her a belt and holster for it that she could use while she was swimming; it also had a snap for Sonic’s oxygen tank, something she was thankful for, as she worried about losing it before getting to him, though Tails assured her that if she lost one, they both would be able to use the other between them as they made their escape.

The wispon came out of the holster easily; Myla opted to just use the grappling hook, not wanting to risk using her preferred lightning powers in the water for obvious reasons. She took out the one closest to Sonic first, followed by the other three that grouped around him. She used the last one to pull herself over to Sonic, who had seemed to be sinking. Hoping he wasn’t in shock from the water, Myla grabbed his wrist and pulled him up to her, tossing her wispon up just long enough to get the second air tank off her belt and into Sonic’s mouth, barely managing to catch it as it sunk past.

No one would ever believe she pulled that off; she didn’t even believe it. When she holstered her wispon a few moments later, she wondered why she hadn’t just done that in the first place.

Before entering the lake, Myla had left some towels on the bank underneath a large tree, and was thankful to see them still there when they got out. She handed one to Sonic before quickly wrapping up in her own. She could feel herself shivering now that she was out of the water. Thankfully it was a sunny day, they should be able to get dried off quickly…

Sonic pulled her into his arms and held her tight. She could feel him shivering as well; she should have thought to bring something to start a fire, or more towels… something…

“I never knew you could sing like that,” he said softly. She smiled a little, hugging him back. There had been so many times in the past few days where she thought she’d never see him again so this was better than anything she could have hoped for.

“Haven’t had the time in a while… you okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine, thanks to you.” He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up.

“Pretty sure I owed you one,” she replied, grinning. He chuckled, shaking his head

“You know you’re crazy right? You could have been killed…” Myla shrugged her shoulders, taking note of how much effort to took.

“Yeah, well…” She put a hand on his cheek. “You’ve always made me feel invincible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Feel Invincible” - Skillett
> 
> https://youtu.be/Qzw6A2WC5Qo
> 
> I usually try to post one chapter a day when I have enough of a buffer, but I really wanted to know if any of Skele_girl999’s theories were correct, so everyone gets an early update as a treat. If you’re enjoying this story, be sure to thank her for the early update. Yes, I will still post another one tomorrow.


	20. One Breath At a Time

M-2 watched Sonic fall through the floor in front of her, screaming his name as he disappeared. This is what they expected to happen, but she didn’t expect it to affect her so strongly. She wasn’t supposed to have the same emotions as Myla, despite being an illusion based upon her… was that all she was though? Instead of making an illusion, had Myla accidentally made a clone?

This was way too much for her to have to deal with during her first day alive.

“You said you’d let him go!” M-2 yelled as she struggled with Metal. The clone theory was starting to gain traction with her, as she wasn’t able to escape Metal’s grasp; had she been an illusion, she would have been able to overpower him somehow, but… he was easily carrying her off. She couldn’t use any of the ruby’s powers, there was no way this plan was going to work at this point.

“And I did, darling,” Metal replied, dragging her into what looked like an old laboratory. “He’s free, in the water around Hydrocity.”

“ _Hydrocity._ You seriously sound like a jerk when you say it like that.” M-2 found herself shoved onto a platform, a large cylinder appearing out of nowhere, trapping her inside. She pounded on the wall, more for effect than any actual hope of escape. She needed to buy Myla time to get Sonic to safety. “Let me out!”

“Well, well,” said a familiar voice. “If it isn’t my little hedgehog friend!” A large monitor on the wall suddenly turned on, revealing Eggman standing on the what appeared to be the bridge of the…

“Did you seriously build another Death Egg in space?! Where do you get the money for this?!”

“Did you think all the casinos across the planet are just there for show?”

“The moment I get out of here, I am destroying every single one. Tails will build me a bigger, better burst wispon and I will burn them to the ground.” Eggman threw back his head and laughed.

“You assume you’re going to get out of here, hedgehog. Metal! Get into position!” M-2 watched as Metal walked over to another platform, a similar cylinder lowering down around him.

“Ready, Doctor. Begin the transfusion.” Metal looked her in the eye and grinned. That smile said one thing to M-2: you shouldn’t have dismissed me.

M-2 screamed; she actually felt pain as the transfusion began. Did Myla feel it too? She braced herself against the wall of the cylinder, trying to stay standing as the pain got stronger. She could hear alarms going off. Eggman saying something…

“Metal, what’s…. the transfu-… -nctioning… not extracting from her… from you!” M-2 eyes widened.

“Oh dear…”

***

“There’s M-2 and Sonic,” Tails whispered urgently. After dropping Myla off in the canyon, Tails had circled back to meet up with Rouge, Knuckles and Shadow. He had brought a new, smaller version of the Miles Electric with him, planning to get a reading on whatever machine Eggman was planning to use on Myla to extract the Phantom Ruby energies. He wasn’t sure what he personally would do with the information, but at the very least he would know how to systematically break it if Eggman ever tried to use it on the real Myla.

“That’s not Sonic,” Shadow replied, eyes narrowing. “That’s Metal.” Tails’ eyes widened; that model was way more advanced than anything Tails had seen before, it was amazing…

“You said you’d let him go!” M-2 yelled. Metal had her in his arms; she was kicking and struggling, clearly with all her might.

“Are we sure that’s M-2?” Rouge asked, keeping her voice down. “She’s getting dragged around like she’s nothing… shouldn’t she be able to best him?”

“I was worried about this,” Shadow admitted. “Infinite’s illusions were always just as formidable as the originals, never better; Myla’s copy of herself would be just as strong as she is, probably without any of the ruby’s powers…” Rouge stared at him for a moment.

“You were worried about this and didn’t say anything?!” Shadow rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry, have you met Myla?”

“He’s got a point,” Tails admitted. “If Myla would have known that, she probably would have swapped places with M-2.”

“So let’s be thankful she didn’t,” Knuckles said. “There’s already a laundry list of stuff Sonic’s going to kill me for if he finds out about it…” Rouge grinned.

“You mean like how you fastball special’d his girlfriend into a condemned zone of the City?”

“That is exactly what I mean. Let’s get moving.”

The team followed M-2 and Metal into lab hidden within the base; it wasn’t as impressive as some of Eggman’s other labs, Tails noticed immediately. M-2 was pushed onto a platform, a cylinder lowering around her.

“It’s like it’s here specifically for one thing,” he whispered as he scanned everything with the Miles Electric. “To transfer the power from Myla to Metal…”

“But that’s not Myla,” Rouge replied. “What’s going to happen if…”

“Did you seriously build another Death Egg in space?!” M-2 yelled. “Where do you get the money for this?!” Eggman, via a large monitor on the wall, grinned at her.

“Did you think all the casinos across the planet are just there for show?” M-2 glared at him, pounding her fist on the glass.

“The moment I get out of here, I am destroying every single one. Tails will build me a bigger, better burst wispon and I will burn them to the ground.”

“I’d do it, too” Tails said, watching Metal stepped onto a platform identical to the one M-2 was on. He was smirking; it was unsettling.

“Ready, Doctor,” Metal said. “Begin the transfusion.” The machine came to life; M-2 started to scream.

“Can she actually feel that?” Knuckles asked, worriedly.

“Sure sounds like it…”

“Tails, how much longer do you need?” Shadow asked.

“I’ve almost got it…” He looked up at M-2, who was bracing herself against the wall of her prison. “Can we get her out before we go..?”

“I don’t…” Alarms started going off around them. “What’s going on?” Tails looked down at the Miles Electric.

“Oh no… the transfer is backfiring… it’s not giving Myla’s power to Metal, it’s taking power from him!”

“What’s that going to do to Myla?” Rouge asked.

“I don’t know… we need to contact her before…” M-2 screamed again, dropping to her knees. She looked over, locking eyes with Tails; she managed a smile, winking at him.

“Go,” she mouthed at him. “Hurry.”

“We need to go,” Knuckles said, placing a hand on Tails shoulder. “Come on.”

***

M-2 saw Tails hiding with Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow, getting scans on his Miles Electric. Good; he’d know everything about this machine, how to destroy it so it could never be rebuilt, how to reverse the effects if needed. She locked eyes with him, smiling, telling him to go. He didn’t look like he wanted to, but Knuckles lead him away. Myla had always liked Tails.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Eggman yelled. “How is she draining power from you?!” The transfer machine turned off; M-2 fell backwards as the cylinder raised. She could run, escape… warn Myla… too bad she couldn’t move.

“She’s not the real one,” Metal replied. “I’ll have to commend Myla when I find her.” M-2 felt a hand close around her throat, lifting her into the air. “I had no idea she’d gotten so good with the ruby’s power.”

“What are you waiting for?!” Eggman yelled. “Go get the real one and bring her back here!”

“That won’t be necessary, Doctor… it seems our little friend here has inadvertently assisted me… observe.” M-2 felt a surge of power go through her; when it was done, she was weakened.

“Incredible! You’ve taken back all the energy extracted from you, more than that!”

“Using the machine on this sad little clone has merged my programming with the extractor; all I need to do now is find Myla.”

“You won’t get her…” M-2 replied, trying to get his hand off her throat, kicking her feet as if that would help somehow. “Even if you did… he’ll never let you hurt her again.”

“We’ll see about that.” As Metal tightened his grip on her, she could feel his rage course through her, draining what little energies she had left. “Feel like begging for your life? Give me a reason to keep you around?” She gasped for air she wasn’t sure if she actually needed, looking him in the eye.

“Do you love me enough to finish me off?”

As everything ended, all she could hope for was that Tails was able warn Myla before Metal’s next attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Painless” - Fozzy
> 
> https://youtu.be/3KhM2QNdMLg
> 
> Personal opinion, “Do you love me enough to finish me off” is such a good line and I wish I’d come up with it.


	21. Everything or Nothing At All

Sonic sat down with Myla in a spot of sunlight, holding her as she slowly warmed back up, listening intently as she filled him in on what she’d done since finding out he was in trouble. She told him about that final loss of control with the ruby’s power (note to self: launch Knuckles into the sun); manipulating his dream so he would know which Myla had come into the Death Egg and which one would be waiting in the water; the plan she and their friends had made to save him. She was shivering the entire time, which he knew was good; she was cold to the touch, not shivering meant they had more serious problems.

“How long were you under water?” he asked.

“Maybe half an hour?” Myla replied, her teeth chattering a little. She was curled up against him, her head resting on his chest. “I headed towards the base around the same time M-2 made her way inside… didn’t want to miss you.”

“You were pretty sure he’d throw me in the water, huh?” She looked up at him, that grin of hers on her face.

“Sadly, yes.”

“Why?”

“Have you learned to swim recently?”

“This seems like a loaded question; no matter how I answer, it won’t end well for me.”

“You’re probably right.” He chuckled softly, shaking his head. He had missed this, bantering with her between missions, but mostly he had missed her; the real her, the one that wasn’t in pain, wasn’t suffering.

“About what happened in the City,” she said softly, nervously. “With Infinite… you really knew all that time?”

“Yeah…”

“And you didn’t care?”

“No, I cared very much.” He felt her flinch in his arms; he gave her a squeeze. “I cared because it was hurting you, My, and it shouldn’t have; you weren’t a soldier, you shouldn’t even have been there… but you were, and you did the best you could…”

“I hid…”

“Anyone in their right mind would have done the same,” Sonic said firmly. “Anyone who says otherwise is just full of it.” He moved her a little, so he was still holding her but he could look her in the eye. He put his hand on her cheek. “You weren’t a soldier, Myla… Tails pulled your file, it said you were a runner; you delivered supplies, did secretary stuff. You shouldn’t have been anywhere near a battle like that… why were you there?” He watched her rest her hand on top of his, felt a few of her tears hit his fingers as she closed her eyes.

“Because they needed help,” she replied after a moment. “I was making a delivery to one of the small outposts in the area when the call came in. They said they needed people to get supplies to everyone fighting, to get the injured to safety… I didn’t even think about it, I just went along. Everyone always commented on how fast I was, someone tried saying I was as fast as you, that got shut down real quick… but it just seemed like the thing to do. When I got there, I just started running; it got harder as more badniks showed up, I was tripping over myself most of the time… then Infinite appeared…”

“It’s okay,” Sonic promised. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, her entire body shaking. “Listen… there are doctors back in the City, they’re trained to help with things like this… I think you might start feeling better if you talked to one.”

“…you don’t hate me.” It wasn’t a question, Sonic noticed. It was an affirmation; she was reminding herself of what he said.

“I don’t hate you, My. I will never hate you.” She nodded a little.

“Okay… yeah… yeah, I’ll talk to someone, when we get home.” She suddenly gasped, clutching her chest.

“My? What’s wrong?” He still had his arms around her; she was suddenly getting warm. Really warm. “Is it your heart?” She shook her head.

“No, I… wait… you know about that?”

“Yeah… we can talk about that later, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know; it’s not my heart. I think it’s M-2, something’s happening to her…” Sonic nodded.

“Metal had her…”

“That was the idea; she was going to go with him so I could get to you, maybe take him out… I don’t think she took him out…”

“Okay… what do you need?”

“I don’t know…” She let go of him, getting to her feet and backing away. He hopped up quickly, taking her hand. “Sonic, please, I don’t know what’s happening…”

“It’s alright; I’m here.”

“It’s not going to be alright if I lose control again!”

“You won’t, My, I trust you!”

“You’re crazy!” Sonic took her face in his hands, holding it still, their noses touching.

“Yeah? Well, if you think I’m leaving you right now, you’re insane.” He grinned. “We did everything together, Myla, we trusted each other and we saved the world; the moment we stopped is when things started falling apart. Trust me to trust you, and we can get through this. Together.” She stared back at him, a frustrated smile curling her lips as she rested her forehead against his.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” she asked softly. “It’s very important to me that you know how ridiculous you are.”

“Yeah,” he replied, chuckling a little. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Between a Man and a Woman” - Flogging Molly
> 
> https://youtu.be/A9IFo6frTRA
> 
> Full Set List: 
> 
> https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOmKNtvNLzx_hsM84pKjPtq7JSKDBhMWZ


	22. Bleed It Out

“Sonic! Myla!” They looked over to the lake; Tails was coming out of the water with Rouge, Knuckles and Shadow close behind. The young fox made a beeline for them, hugging them both tightly. “You’re okay!”

“We’re fine, pal,” Sonic replied, ruffling his hair.

“We just came from the base,” Knuckles said as he got to them. “Eggman’s got another Death Egg in space, he’s running everything from there.” Myla groaned, shaking her head.

“Where does he keep getting the money for this?”

“Casinos, according to him,” Rouge replied.

“Tails, I’m going to need you to build me a bigger, better burst wispon.”

“I will,” Tails replied, an amused grin on his face. Sonic made a note to ask about that later.

“Where’s M-2?” Myla asked. The tone of her voice suggested she already knew the answer.

“We don’t know for certain,” Shadow said. “Eggman tried to get the ruby energy from her, but something went wrong.” Tails nodded.

“He said it was taking the power from Metal and giving it to M-2.”

“Huh,” Myla said, looking at Sonic. “Maybe that’s what that was?”

“What what was?” Knuckles asked.

“I felt something…” She tensed up suddenly, her eyes going wide. “Heads up!” Before anyone could move, they heard a reality warp; not one of Infinite’s. One of Myla’s. A dome made up of small purple cubes appeared around them, sheltering them from the laser blasts that came out of nowhere.

“Badniks!” Rouge yelled, pointing at the sky where multiple robots were descending towards them. Some were flying, some were coming down the sides of the canyon, all of them heading straight for the group.

“I can’t hold this shield for long,” Myla warned them.

“Metal can’t be too far behind,” Sonic added, putting his hand on her shoulder. “He’s going to head right for you.”

“I’m not worried about that.” She looked at him grinning. “I’ve got you here.” He grinned back, nodding.

“Can you two lovebirds focus on the task at hand?” Shadow replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“I will remember this, Shadow,” Myla promised him. “I will remember this and use it against you in the future.”

“Everyone get ready!” Sonic said. He gave Myla’s shoulder a squeeze. “Let’s go!”

The moment Myla dropped the dome, everyone went into action. Tails teamed up with Sonic, getting him into the air to take out the buzz bombers and valkeens. Rouge and Knuckles went after the egg walkers coming down the sides of the canyon, Shadow was going around and hitting anything that came close. Myla stayed near the lake, wispon in hand, keeping everything that came that way from getting too far on shore. Occasionally one of her friends would dart past, helping her, her helping them… but it seemed too easy somehow; none of them were overrun, there were just enough badniks around to keep everyone busy. It was almost like this was just a distraction…

“Myla, on your left!” Tails’ warning almost came too late; the energy ball landed at her feet, sending her flying but not taking her out. She managed to recover, landing on her knees instead of her back. “Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine… Tails, look out!” Metal was behind him in an instant, hitting him in the head with his elbow before grabbing the dazed fox by his tails and dangling him over the lake. Within seconds, more badniks appeared, keeping the rest of the team back, isolating them from Myla, Tails and Metal.

“Hello, my love,” Metal said, grinning down at her. Myla raised her wispon at him, glaring.

“Let him go, Metal!”

“You want him, darling? Come and get him!” Myla shot her grappling hook towards them, hoping to latch onto Tails and pull him to safety; she grabbed onto Metal instead, pulling herself up towards him, positioning herself to go into him feet first and hitting him directly in the chest. He threw Tails aside like he was a broken toy, grabbing hold of Myla by her arms, squeezing her wrist until she dropped her wispon.

“Tails!” She watched him falling, focusing every once of control she had over the ruby on him. Seconds later, her reality warp went into effect, slowing his fall but not stopping him. “I need some help over here!”

“I’ve got him, My!” Sonic yelled. He ran up a tree, homing attacked across a few buzz bombers and caught Tails before he could hit the water, barely managing to keep himself from going in. “Tails, you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” he mumbled as Sonic set him down. He was unsteady on his feet, holding his head a little. “Metal… he’s got Myla.”

“Not for long he doesn’t.” Sonic readied himself to attack only to have more badniks appear in front of them. “Where are these things coming from?!”

“It’s Metal!” Tails replied, taking out his Miles Electric. “They’re all illusions he’s made! The more we destroy, the more he’s going to summon!” Sonic looked around; everyone was starting to get overwhelmed, they wouldn’t be able to fight forever. “Holy…”

“What is it now?!”

“Metal’s fused with Eggman’s energy extractor! He can drain Myla directly if he wanted!” Sonic felt his blood run cold. “Oh no…” He looked up at Myla just in time to see her ball up her fist.

“Oh boy…”

***

“How much longer do you think they’ll live, my love?” Metal asked Myla, holding her tightly as they hovered above the battlefield in the canyon below. “Will they live long enough to see your demise?”

“You think I’m going to let you hurt them?” She hissed. She was tired; controlling the ruby’s power was exhausting, she wouldn’t be able to do much more without risking some sort of blow out. Tails was safe on the ground now and Sonic was with him, but they were surrounded.

“I don’t think you’re going to have a choice, lovely.”

“If you try to kiss me again, you will not live to regret it.” He laughed.

“The time for that is over, my Myla; you should have given into me while you had the chance.” He grinned wickedly at her. “I am going to bleed every last bit of the ruby’s energy from you, and I am going to make sure that there is nothing left of you when I’m done. If I can’t have you, no one will.”

Myla knew she was running out of options. If she didn’t think of something soon, everything was over. She would be dead, her friends would be dead… what was Tails talking about down there? She couldn’t hear him, but she’d learned how to read lips somewhere along the way during her youth.

“Metal’s fused with Eggman’s energy extractor!” Her eyes widened; how was that even possible? That wasn’t important right now. Metal had the ability to drain all of the ruby energy in her right here, right now, he could take it all and there would be nothing to stop him.

There was also, Myla realized, nothing to protect him.

“You want power, Metal?” Myla yelled, balling up her fist. “Then get ready for a surge!” She drew back her fist and slammed it into Metal’s torso with all her might. Her reality warp sound echoed through the area as sparks started to fly. Badniks started vanishing, much to the surprise of the rest of the team, who all hurried over to Sonic and Tails.

“Holy moly!” Tails yelled, looking at his MilesElectric scanner.

“What’s happening?” asked Sonic, his voice frantic.

“Myla’s forcing power into Metal’s ruby! I think she’s trying to overload it!”

“Can she do that?!” Knuckles hollered over the noise.

“Theoretically! Eggman’s machine was made to transfer the power slowly, giving the recipient time to adjust; if Myla has more power than Metal, and she forces it into him rapidly, she could cause an overload and destroy him, and the ruby as well!”

“What about her?!” Sonic yelled, watching helplessly as Myla struggled to force the power that had been within her into Metal. “What happens if she destroys Metal?”

“All the power would come back to her! If she started out with most of it, which she should have, everything will be fine!”

“What if she didn’t have most of it?”

“There’s no reason to think she doesn-“

“Tails!” Sonic grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him in the eye. “What if she didn’t? What happens if she didn’t…” Tails sighed, shaking his head.

“I don’t know…” He looked over Sonic’s head at the power struggle in the sky above them. “If she manages to maintain more power than what she puts into Metal, she should be able to reabsorb it all without issue…”

“There’s no way she’ll be able to do that,” Rouge yelled. “Look at her, she’s already exhausted!”

“If only we had more power from somewhere,” Tails said. “Maybe we… Sonic?” Sonic had let go of Tails and was now looking at Myla and Metal. He took a deep breath, letting it out in a huff.

“Everyone get back,” he said, his hands clenching into fists. “Get out of the canyon as fast as you can… I know what to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Bleed It Out” - Linkin Park
> 
> https://youtu.be/OnuuYcqhzCE
> 
> I’m excited for the next chapter, as I managed to work in one of my favorite songs ever


	23. One More Last Fist Bump

“You should have given up long ago, lovely,” Metal taunted Myla. He had his hands around her throat as she drove her fist into him, he could feel the power she was trying to overload him with course through him, and he was absorbing it much faster than she was releasing it. “As soon as I’m done with you, I am going after Sonic and all his friends, and I will kill them. One. By. One.”

“Over my dead body,” Myla hissed. He started to laugh.

“Glad we’re on the same page.” Myla gritted her teeth; she couldn’t keep this up much longer. She thought she had enough to get this over quickly, but Metal wasn’t shutting down. She didn’t want to throw around words like “useless” or “hopeless”… but it was sure starting to feel that way.

“Myla!” Her head jerked up, looking past Metal to the cliffs behind him. Something was running along them, something fast.

“Sonic?!” She shook her head violently, full of terror. “Sonic, no, get back!” Sonic started speeding up, heading for a ledge directly behind Metal.

“What did I always tell you, My?” He yelled. “We’re a team! It doesn’t matter what obstacles they put in our way! We’ll blow past everything they throw at us!” Sonic leapt off the ledge, his fist extended out in front of him. “We can do this, My! Together!”

Sonic watched as the fear in her eyes melted away, leaving behind that confidence she had gained, the determination he knew so well and loved so much. She nodded once, reaching her own fist out towards him.

“DOUBLE BOOST!”

Their fists slammed together with a force that sent shockwaves through the whole island. Sonic could feel his strength combined with Myla’s, combining with that of the Phantom Ruby; all of it surging into Metal with incredible speed. More importantly though, he could feel Metal weakening.

“No!” Metal screamed. “I will not be defeated like this!”

“Wanna bet?” Sonic asked. It was working; more sparks were flying off of Metal, his eyes were flickering, they were so close…

“Sonic!” He looked over at Myla; her eyes were clenched shut, tears streaming down her face. She was straining to keep up.

“Myla, hang on! We’ve almost got him!”

“Sonic…” She opened her eyes, looking right at him. She smiled. “I love you.”

The explosion sent Sonic flying backwards towards the cliffs he had leapt from, barely able to take control of the momentum and land on his feet. Metal was gone; not broken, obliterated. He could see bits of the robot and Phantom Ruby falling from the sky like some morbid confetti. But he didn’t see…

“Myla… Myla?” He couldn’t see her. The force of the blast had fractured the top of the canyon; there had been a large river near the top and it created a giant waterfall that was now thundering down into the once peaceful lake, flooding the entire area. Sonic felt his legs turn to rubber as he fell to his hands and knees. She… no. No, not after everything they’d been through, she couldn’t be… “MYLA?!”

“HELP!” His head shot up. There she was; there was small piece of cliff in the middle of the new waterfall, and Myla was dangling off. He watched her try to get her feet planted, only to have the ground fall away, crashing into the water below. “HELP, SOMEONE, PLEASE!”

“Myla, hang on!” Sonic launched himself to his feet and sped towards her, knowing there was no time to waste; he could see the force of the new waterfall taking out the cliff she was clinging to. He had to get there before it took everything, or she lost her grip, or…

Water crashed over the top of Myla, knocking her off. She screamed as she hurtled towards the water below, slamming into it face first with a huge splash. Sonic watched the spot where she hit, expecting her to burst through the water’s surface at any second.

When she didn’t, he wasted no time in diving in after her.

The newly formed waterfall created currents that hadn’t been in the lake when Myla had led him through earlier that day; it took Sonic more time to get himself oriented than it did to actually find her. Near the base of the waterfall were some of the rocks that had previously been part of the cliff, and Myla was clinging to one of them. Sonic used other rocks to launch himself towards her, grabbing onto her hand just as she let go. He pulled Myla towards him, getting an arm around her and holding her tight; she was limp, her eyes closed. He had to get her out of there…

He felt something slam into the back of his head, disorienting him enough that he almost lost her. He grabbed at whatever had hit him; a wispon. Myla’s wispon. Sonic took aim and fired, praising anything that was listening when the grappling hook gained purchase and they started soaring through the water. He clung to her with all his might; after everything they’d done together, everything they’d been through, he wasn’t losing her to water.

The grappling hook had latched onto one of the many trees that had been around the lake and was now mostly submerged, landing Sonic and Myla on one of few branches still above water. He got a better hold on her before leaping up to the top of the tree, away from the tsunami they had inadvertently created. From there, he jumped back up the cliffs, not stopping until he knew the ground below his feet was completely solid.

When he finally stopped, Sonic could hear Myla coughing, much to his relief; she also sounded like she was choking, which was less relieving. He knelt on the ground, carefully positioning her so she could cough up whatever water she’d inhaled. She was cold, shivering, but she was alive…

“Sonic..?”

“Take it easy, My; you’re safe.” She looked up at him, her face pale and exhausted.

“Where are we… what happened…” He hugged her gently.

“We did it,” he replied, suddenly feeling as exhausted as Myla looked. “Metal’s gone, so’s his ruby… maybe the power is too, I don’t know…” He felt her shake her head.

“No… no it’s still here…” She tapped her chest, wincing. “I’ve got it… I just… I can’t…” She whimpered softly. “I think something’s wrong…”

“Shh, it’s okay. Don’t worry about that now.” He looked around. Had their friends gotten to safety; could he leave Myla here to rest while he searched for them…

“Knuckles to Sonic and Myla, can either of you hear me?!” Myla looked at her wrist; her communicator was still in one piece. Sonic took her hand, holding it gently.

“Sonic here, Knuckles; good to hear your voice. Is everyone safe?”

“Affirmative, we got to higher ground before the floods started. Are you and Myla alright?”

“I’m okay, but Myla’s hurt, she needs to get to the hospital.”

“Not again,” Myla muttered. Sonic kissed the top of her head.

“Sorry sweetheart, but you are not dying on me today.”

“If I promise to wait until tomorrow, can we skip it..?”

“You are not as funny as you think you are,” Sonic replied flatly, a small curling his lips.

“Yeah I am…”

“Stay where you are,” Knuckles cut in. “Get ready for a pick up, Tails is about five minutes away. Knuckles out.”

Sonic got to his feet, picking Myla up and holding her while he looked for their ride home. He could hear her ragged breathing, feel her heart race…

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Myla said suddenly. “But I’m pretty sure I fell into the lake earlier…”

“You did,” Sonic confirmed.

“Into the water.”

“Yep.”

“…you came after me.” He looked down at her, her tired eyes wide with realization. “You jumped into the water after me.”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t?” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Do you remember what you said to me before that? Before we destroyed Metal?”

“Of course I do…” She closed her eyes a moment, a guilty frown on her face. “I seriously thought I wasn’t going to live through that, and I just…” She opened her eyes, looking up at him. “If it was the last thing I got to say to you… I wanted it to be something good.”

“Sonic! Myla!” They both looked up; Tails was flying over them in the Tornado, coming in for a landing beside them. Sonic didn’t wait for the plane to stop before hopping on, carefully settling Myla in the seat next to Tails.

“Hey kiddo,” she said weakly. “You got enough room?”

“I’ll be fine,” he promised. “Sonic, you ready?” Sonic leapt on the the wing.

“Ready; let’s go!”

***

Myla was falling asleep by the time they got to the hospital, but awake enough to joke that she was there to make her appointment, like she had promised; Dr. Zell was not as amused as Myla hoped she’d be.

“We can’t hold off on this anymore, Myla,” the doctor said sternly, standing beside her hospital bed, showing off the newest images of Myla’s heart; the hole was bigger, just enough to be worrisome. “You need surgery now, before…”

“Okay.” Dr. Zell blinked, staring at Myla as if she’d said something insanely profound.

“I… what?”

“Okay. You said it needs to be done, I’ll do it. What do you need me to do?” Dr. Zell, clearly not expecting this, continued to stare at her for a moment before throwing her hands in the air.

“Let me check the schedule, see when’s the soonest we can get you in.” She turned to Sonic. “Make sure she stays put.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Where does she think I’m going to go?” Myla asked after Dr. Zell had gone. She fidgeted a little in the bed, trying to get comfortable. She was tired, almost too tired. She wanted to sleep, but wasn’t sure she actually could.

“Knowing you?” Sonic asked, grinning. “Out to grab a taco, then end up saving the world five or six times before actually getting said taco.” Myla rolled her eyes.

“You have a really high estimation of what I’m willing to do for a taco.”

“Oh really? I’ve seen you take out multiple badniks in order get one from that place you love on Atwood.”

“Tex Tubb’s Taco Palace is a national treasure, I was taking out badniks in order to save it. The fact I got tacos after was a coincidence!” She grinned. “Besides, you’re one to talk; I seem to remember you wanting to stop and get a chili dog _on the way_ to the final battle with Infinite.”

“I was hungry!”

“You’re ridiculous is what you are.” Myla felt herself relaxing as they continued to banter, felt millions of weights fall off of her shoulders; she had missed this so much.

“Get some rest, okay?” Sonic said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “I might pop out and go check on everyone, but I’ll be back; promise.” She nodded a little, her eyes drooping closed.

“I meant it,” she mumbled, feeling sleep start to overtake her. “When I said I loved you… I meant it…” She heard a soft chuckle, felt a kiss on her cheek. It was the most relaxing way she’d fallen asleep in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Fist Bump” - Douglas Robb of Hoobastank, from the Sonic Forces soundtrack
> 
> https://youtu.be/tjehy3_G8Lk
> 
> I love this song so much, it is SUCH a banger <3


End file.
